Looking back at history, the earliest firefighting force in the world originated from the Northern Song Dynasty. It shows that although there were no fire trucks at that time, the residents of our country had the prevention and awareness of fires more than a thousand years ago. The fire brigade in the Northern Song Dynasty was more than 600 years earlier than the fire brigade in London in 1666 and 800 years earlier than the full-time fire brigade in New York in 1853.
Learning to use fire is a crucial step in the history of human evolution. With the increasing use of fire, fire has also become a major problem that people must face and overcome.
Since the advent of fire fighting vehicles at the beginning of the last century, after continuous development and improvement, they soon became the main force of fire fighting work, and completely changed the face of humans fighting fire.
Five hundred years ago there was a horse-drawn fire truck
Fire-fighting vehicles, as the name suggests, are formed by installing various special fire-fighting equipment on the vehicle. The fire truck we are talking about today usually refers to this kind of fire truck. Before the production of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, people had already begun to try to install special fire-fighting appliances on vehicles so that they could rush to the scene in time when a fire broke out.
The world’s first fire engine recorded in 1518 was commissioned by the city of Augsburg, Germany, and manufactured by Anteni Bratner, a metal craftsman. People know very little about the details of this fire truck. According to the book "History of Crafts in the City of Augsburg", this fire truck was formed by installing a large lever-operated water pump on the car. Its power is to use horses to tow.
In 1666, a fire broke out in London, England. The fire burned for 4 days and destroyed 1,300 houses including the famous St. Paul’s Church. Some medieval buildings were wiped out in the fire. People began to pay attention to the fire protection work in the city. Soon, the British invented the world's first hand-cranked water pump fire truck and used a water hose to extinguish the fire.
In 1673, Del Hayden of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, invented a soft water pipe made of leather for fire fighting. In 1721, Richard Nesham of England invented a fire extinguisher with wheels that was more efficient than a soft water pipe. This kind of fire extinguisher has people who hold the handle to put out the fire, and people who drive the pump barrel by pedaling. Together, they can continuously spray water to extinguish the fire. Of course, this fire extinguisher is also installed on the carriage.
Steam water pumps used for fire fighting in the industrial revolution
Watt improved the steam engine during the British Industrial Revolution. Soon, steam engines were also used in fire fighting.
The fire engine powered by a steam engine appeared in London in 1829. The inventor was the steam engine engineer John Braithwaite. But this kind of car is still to be drawn by horses, and the rear is equipped with a fire-fighting water pump powered by coal as fuel, equipped with a soft hose, and driven by a 10-horsepower twin-cylinder steam engine.
New York, USA, established the world's first professional fire brigade in 1835, with only 4 personnel at the beginning. They receive prepaid wages and specialize in fire fighting. The following year, the fire brigade increased to 40 people. It was later named "Fire Police" and included in the sequence of the city police. The first steam-powered fire truck in the United States was made in 1841 by the British man Pol R. Hogu who lived in New York. It can spray water onto the roof of New York City Hall.
By the end of the 19th century, steam engine fire trucks had gained popularity in the West.
The earliest fire trucks are not as good as horse-drawn carriages
By the beginning of the 20th century, with the advent of modern automobiles, fire trucks quickly adopted internal combustion engines as traction power, but steam-powered water pumps were still used as fire-fighting water pumps.
In the model exhibition held in Versailles, France in 1898, Gambier Company of Lille, France exhibited the world's first firefighting car, although it was primitive and imperfect.
In 1901, the fire-fighting car produced by the Loyal Kalidi Company of Liverpool, England, was adopted by the Liverpool Fire Brigade. In August of the same year, this fire fighting vehicle was dispatched for the first time. The driver, George Beckett, drove the car without waiting for the firefighters to board the car. Due to the slow speed, the firefighters who did not get into the car caught up from behind and jumped into the car. When this fire truck arrived at the scene of the fire, even the subsequent fire carriage arrived. It is said that when it is walking, it tempers continuously, so people nicknamed it "Fart Arnie".
1930
Sixty years ago, people called fire trucks "fire candle cars" and "fire candle cars". There is no water tank, and firefighters can only stand in the car and leave the police for rescue. At that time, the "fire candle car" did not have a water tank, only a few hoses of different heights and a ladder. The most interesting thing is that the firefighters at the time were all standing on the car in rows holding handrails. "This is indeed very dangerous!" It is said that the number of the fire alarm was 12886.
In the 1920s, fire trucks that operated entirely on internal combustion engines began to appear. At this time, the structure of the fire truck is simple, and most of them are modified on the existing truck chassis. A water pump and an additional water tank are installed on the truck. A fire ladder, fire axe, explosion-proof lamp, and fire hose are hung on the outside of the vehicle.
Modern fire trucks are a big family
After more than one hundred years of development, today's fire trucks have become a "big family" with a staggering level of technology including a variety of categories.
The water tank fire truck is still the most standing fire fighting vehicle of the fire brigade. In addition to being equipped with fire-fighting water pumps and equipment, the vehicle is also equipped with large-capacity water storage tanks, water guns, water cannons, etc., which can transport water and firefighters to the fire site to fight the fire independently. Suitable for fighting general fires.
Extinguishing special fires with chemical extinguishing agents instead of using water to extinguish fires is a revolution in fire fighting methods for thousands of years. In 1915, the American National Foam Company invented the world's first dual-powder foam fire extinguishing powder made of aluminum sulfate and sodium bicarbonate. Soon, this new fire extinguishing material was also used in fire trucks.
It can quickly spray a large number of high-expansion air bubbles of 400-1000 times of foaming to isolate the surface of the burning material from the air, which is especially suitable for fighting oil fires such as petroleum and its products.
It can extinguish flammable and flammable liquids, flammable gas fires, live equipment fires, and can also extinguish general material fires. For large-scale chemical pipeline fires, the fire fighting effect is particularly significant, and it is a standing fire truck for petrochemical companies.
With the improvement of modern architecture, there are more and more high-rise buildings, and fire trucks have also changed accordingly, and ladder fire trucks have appeared. The multi-level ladder on the ladder fire truck can directly send the firefighters to the fire site on the high-rise building for timely disaster relief, and can rescue the people in distress trapped in the fire site in time, greatly improving the ability of fire fighting and disaster relief.
Nowadays, fire trucks have become more and more specialized. For example, carbon dioxide fire trucks are mainly used to extinguish fires such as valuable equipment, precision instruments, important cultural relics, and books and archives; airport rescue fire trucks are dedicated to fighting and rescuing plane crash fires Personnel on board; illuminated fire trucks provide lighting for night fire fighting and rescue work; smoke exhaust fire trucks are particularly suitable for use in fighting fires in underground buildings and warehouses, etc.
