Description
Book SynopsisMore complex and imposing than any other vehicle in the British emergency services, the fire engine has a long and interesting history. The earliest water pumps had been developed by the eighteenth century – basic manual pumps that had to be hauled around by people or horses, and were often only used on fire-insured premises. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries horse-drawn, steam-powered fire engines, and eventually motorised fire engines, came to revolutionise firefighting, offering far greater versatility and the brigades came to be run by the municipalities. In this beautifully illustrated introduction, Eddie Baker charts the history of fire engines and their variants, and the increasingly complex equipment they have carried, such as high-rise ladders and high-pressure hoses. He also explains the wider history of the fire service and how the engines have been shaped by its needs and, most importantly, those of the firefighters themselves.
Table of ContentsEarly Days 1900-1920 1921-1939 The Second World War 1945-1959 The 1960s and 1970s The 1980s and 1990s The Twenty-first Century Airports and Industrial Brigades Glossary Places to Visit Further Reading Index
