Even the Ancient Egyptians must have known enough about the fire-retardant properties of sand to use include it alongside water in their firefighting arsenal. Of course, things have come a long way over the intervening four millennia.
All methods of firefighting rely on starving the fire of one or more of the three things it needs in order to keep going – heat, oxygen and combustible material. In that sense, nothing has changed since the days of Ancient Egypt. What has changed is that modern firefighters are a lot more systematic in the way the go about their job. They don’t just eliminate the immediate danger; they keep a watchful eye on downstream risk and damage as well. Consequently, modern fire call-outs are a lot less spectacular than in the past. That’s because speed is not the only requirement; getting fires under control also calls for careful consideration – a measured approach that may sometimes appear slower and more deliberate, but which gets the job done more effectively.
Main themes
Vehicles and vehicle equipment
Fire extinguishing technology and agents
Equipment for fire stations and workshops
Structural engineering, technical fire and building protection
