The first fire brigade

The first ever fire brigade of which we have any substantial history was created by Marcus Licinius Crassus. At that time  Rome had no fire department. Crassus filled this void by creating his own brigade—500 men strong—which rushed to burning buildings at the first cry of alarm. 

Upon arriving at the scene, however, the fire fighters did nothing while their employer bargained over the price of their services with the distressed property owner. If Crassus could not negotiate a satisfactory price, his men simply let the structure burn to the ground. 

Emperor Nero took the basic idea from Crassus and then built on it to form the Vigiles in AD 60 to combat fires. The Vigiles patrolled the streets of Rome to watch for fires and served as a police force. The later brigades consisted of hundreds of men, all ready for action. When there was a fire, the men would line up to the nearest water source and pass buckets hand in hand to the fire.

Despite the fact that people began to care for fire safety, this sphere has been forgotten for many centuries. Major shifts occurred in the 17th century after the fires causing significant losses.

France :

In 1254, a royal decree of king of France created the so-called guet bourgeois ("burgess watch"), allowing the residents of Paris to establish their own night watches, separate from the king's night watches, to prevent and stop crimes and fires. After the Hundred Year's war, the population of Paris expanded again, and the city was the scene of several great fires in the 16th century. As a consequence, king disbanded the residents' night watches and left the king's watches as the only one responsible for checking crimes and fires.

England :

London suffered great fires in 798, 982, 989, 1212 and above all in 1666 (the Great Fire Of London). The Great Fire of 1666 consumed about two square miles (5 km²) of the city, leaving tens of thousands homeless. Prior to this fire, London had no organized fire protection system. Afterwards, insurance companies formed private fire brigades to protect their clients’ property. Insurance brigades would only fight fires at buildings the company insured. These buildings were identified by fire insurance marks.

U.S.A :

In 1631, Boston's  governor John Winthrop outlawed wooden chimneys and thatched roofs. In 1648, the New Amsterdam governor appointed four men to act as fire wardens.They were empowered to inspect all chimneys and to fine any violators of the rules. The city burghers later appointed eight prominent citizens to the "Rattle Watch" - these men volunteered to patrol the streets at night carrying large wooden rattles. If a fire was seen, the men spun the rattles, then directed the responding citizens to form bucket brigades. 

The United States did not have government-run fire departments until around the time of the American Civil War. Prior to this time insurance companies private fire brigades competed with one another to be the first to respond to a fire because paid brigades to save buildings from fire.On April 1 of 1853, Ohio featured the first professional fire department.

Georgia :

The Fire Service of Georgia has an interesting history.

The first organized fire service was created in the XIX century. before that, the duties of fire fighters were fulfilled by the "Karachogheli" (Tbilisi street hawker), who in case of discovering fire were striving to extinguish it, by their own forces. At that time the inhabitants of Tbilisi called the "Karachogheli" the "Khandzarchi", which  is Turkish word and in Georgian means firefighter. In the 19th century, fierce fires caused the formation of a fire brigade in 1825, initially involving 25 men. Firefighters went to the fire  with chariots carried water pump equipment and water reservoirs with a capacity of - 30 l. 

There was interesting method to detect the fire and inform the firefighters. There was interesting method to detect the fire and inform the firefighters. The towers were erected in different parts of the city, from which some part of the city and other towers could be seen. A firefighter, who was on the tower, in case of detecting fire, would show the sign, from the tower. Fire fighters from different parts of the city were using different signs to inform about fire in that area. For example during day different towers were using different colored balls. During night different quantities of lantern were used in different parts of city. Also from the moment of fire, the church bells were ringing and day-shift was imposed on the fire place.