Fire Science and Firefighting Commons^™

Professionalization Of The Fire Service: There’S More To It Than Putting The Wet Stuff On The Hot Stuff, Redd R.J.G Branner

Learning Showcase 2014

Professional firefighting in the United States is often traced back to the 17th Century; most notably, the Boston fire of 1631. In the early days of firefighting, fire departments were, for lack of better words, social organizations. From the earliest firefighting operations consisting of bucket brigades, to the latest high-tech equipment designed to extinguish fires, firefighters have always been our heroes! We applaud them when they extinguish fires and save lives, we mourn them when they lose their lives. Firefighting is often thought of as putting the wet stuff on the hot stuff (water on fire); however, firefighting goes much …