The Development of Fire Hose

A Part of Fire Service History

In this series of fire service history articles, we have covered several inventions and developments that have led to a significant change in the fire service. These new devices changed existing theory and operational procedures and instituted new tactics or procedures that over time have contributed to the ever-expanding traditions of the fire service. The industrial revolution in Europe and America was a momentous period for the fire service. The equipment developments and resulting tactics would shape our modern fire service. Steam fire apparatus brought increased fire flows and powered the pump moving from man-powered to mechanical-powered machines. This reduced the number of firefighters needed, and along with cultural changes in society, helped lead to the establishment of the career fire service. The weight of the steamers and the expanding amount of new equipment designed for firefighting instituted the need for a means to transport the heavy apparatus to the scene. This brought about the introduction of horses in the fire service. A new development that along with the steamer changed fire station design, and brought about fire poles and other advances. With the development of the internal combustion engine and the new auto industry, the need for quick response while reducing the cost and dependence on horses brought about the introduction of motorized apparatus. As we can see many of these changes were interrelated and it was not just one change but a series of changes that combined into creating the foundation of what would become the modern fire service. However, there is one tool that could be said to have been instrumental in creating the new tactical capability that would be the forebearer of all these previously mentioned changes. That one single tool would provide the ability to effectively put the “wet stuff on the red stuff”. The tool was the invention of “brandslang” or fire hose.

Today firefighters take for granted this common piece of fire equipment, the fire hose, and fail to realize its important role in providing the mechanism that would institute the modern fire service. This article covers the historical development of fire hose and its continued refinement over time. As part of this chronicle, we will learn how this tool led to the implementation of modern tactics and concepts that would form the overall strategy of the fire service. Though the design and material for the hose have significantly changed over time, along with how it is loaded and transported, the basics of using fire hose for water supply and fire attack have been a part of the American fire service for over 200 years.

Fire Hose Defined
The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Illustrated Dictionary of Fire Service Terms defines Fire Hose as “a flexible conduit used to convey water.”1 Early historical references call this flexible conduit, or what would become known as “fire hose,” by the term “hose pipe.”2 This term today is usually used to refer to a building water pipe or garden hose connection. However, this new development of hose-pipe for the fireman of the day must have been considered an accurate description. A flexible above-ground portable piping system that could quickly be deployed to move water to where it was needed for firefighting purposes. It would have a tremendous impact on the future of the fire service.

In the beginning
The first mention of a type of hose used for fighting fire comes purportedly from around 400 BC. The concept was for a bag of water attached to a hose made of “oxen gut”, and by compressing the bag, water is forced through the hose for firefighting purposes. A number of fire department and fire equipment websites repeat this same story, but fail to reference where this information came from. Though it is not the definitive source, it appears that one of the earliest printed references to this story comes from The New American Cyclopedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge published in 1872. In a passage explaining the early concerns of dealing with building fires in ancient Rome, it is stated that: “Apollodrus the architect, perhaps, was the first to suggest the use of a kind of hose, in recommending for the conveyance of water to high places exposed to fiery darts the use of the gut of an ox having a bag filled with water affixed to it.”3 To add to the confusion, some references say, Heron, an ancient Greek mathematician and inventor, was responsible for inventing fire hose along with a fire pumping engine.4 Heron, also called Hero or Heron of Alexandria, ostensibly taught at the Museum of Alexandria. Working around 62 AD, he may have built upon the works of earlier inventor’s notes that he came across.5 Heron had many inventions that worked with water or steam pressure and as a result, probably used flexible hoses in the process.

Not much is known about the nature of this ancient fire hose or flexible tubing. Other than the brief description of “ox guts” we do not have a lot to go on. The historical record seems to have dropped chronicling any other uses or developments in flexible tubes for firefighting until the 1600s. Methods of pumping water onto a fire or the first hand-operated fire engines of Apollodrus and Heron’s time also seem to be lost in history. According to Ewbank, in his book A Descriptive and Historical Account of Hydraulic and Other Machines for Raising Water, “Fire-engines were nearly or altogether forgotten in the middle ages: portable syringes seem to have been the only contrivances, except for buckets for throwing water on fires.”6

In Europe in the 1500s hand pumped fire engines began to make a resurgence possibly first being used in Germany.7 With this reintroduction of the hand pump engines, there is the introduction of the gooseneck standpipe and nozzle combination mounted directly to the engine and with the ability for limited movement to spray water. At first this nozzle was permanently fixed to the piping from the engine. Over time the nozzle or “jet pipe” connection to the discharge pipe riser was changed to a “union joint” that allowed switching of nozzles. Ewbank, in his previously mentioned book, relates that the nozzle was “connected to the other by coupling screws or ‘union joints,’ the most useful and ingenious device for joining tubes that ever was invented.”8 This “ingenious device” (the hose coupling) would provide for the development of a new practice in firefighting. This new practice would be an offensive fire attack, where hose lines off the fire engine (pump) were advanced to the seat of the fire.

Hand engines were a major development in the history of firefighting, however, it should be understood that up through this time, firefighting was more of a defensive process aimed at keeping the fire from spreading. Either throwing water from buckets into the building on fire or shooting water toward the fire from the nozzle mounted on the hand-pump fire engine. The equipment necessary, and the concept of an active offensive fire attack, had not been developed. This new concept and the equipment to implement it would be invented and perfected in the Netherlands by, believe it or not, a famous Dutch artist.

Beginning of Modern Fire Attack, Jan van der Heyden
and Family
Because of the momentous transformation that Heyden and his family instituted through the development of the modern fire attack, we need to devote a special segment to them in this article. Jan Jansz van der Heyden (1637-1712) was a gifted artist and painter from Amsterdam. Today he is recognized for his meticulous artwork of “picturesque architectural environments.”9

Jan van der Heyden was truly a renaissance man developing multiple interests and talents. As a famous artist he also became an inventor-engineer, developing a new type of fire engine consisting of a “portable water pump with flexible hose.”10 This invention, patented by the States of Holland in 1671, stemmed from his other job. He along with his brother Nicolaes were joint Fire Chiefs of Amsterdam in the 1670s.11

Heyden’s new invention had the nozzle removed from the engine itself and attached to a length of leather hose. This allowed the nozzle and hose, or “flexible snake”, to be carried into buildings, up stairs and ladders, and to the seat of the fire, creating a true interior fire attack. This novel firefighting method became his trademark and he used the logo of a flexible hose on his fire engines.12 The hose was described by later historians as a leathern tube made by sewing leather hide pieces together like a bootleg. Brass screw couplings were fitted to each end to form fifty-foot sections which enabled multiple hoses to be connected as needed.13 The tradition of having fire hose in 50’ hose lengths comes from this first hose and period. Around 1675, Heyden developed the first specially designed hose (suction or draft hose) to help supply the engine from the draft.14

Though the development of the leather fire hose was a great invention, it had its drawbacks. The leather sections sewn together with natural thread were subject to wear and rot over time resulting in the older stitching failing under high pressure causing hoses to leak or burst. Later accounts indicate the use of waxed twine to make a more durable hose seam.15 Another problem was the natural oils in the leather would dry out over time causing the hose to become stiff and inflexible. Also, the leather in storage was subject to being chewed by mice. According to French physicist Pierre Poliniere, to alleviate some of these problems the hose was “lubricated with a composition of tallow and wax to render them pliable; and, to prevent mice and other vermin from destroying them, soaked in an infusion of colocynth or bitter apple.”16

Heyden witnessed and researched fires in Amsterdam from 1652 to 1687, even drawing a meticulous depiction of the fires and firefighting efforts. From his experiences and the new techniques he developed he and his son Jan van der Heyden II, published in 1690, the book called Brandspuitenboek (or Fire Engine Book) with the fully translated title: A Description of Fire Engines with Water Hoses and the Method of Fighting Fires now used in Amsterdam.17 The book was illustrated with the many drawings of fires and firefighting operations that Heyden as an artist had produced. Some articles and researchers confuse Heyden’s son (Jan van der Heyden II) and brother (Nicolaes) together and incorrectly credited this book to only Heyden himself or the brothers Heyden. Also, other historians of the past, along with various language translations, have provided multiple spellings of the family name in references such as Heide or Heides.

The Heyden fire engine continued to be improved upon and in the 1700s the engine was mounted on a wheeled chassis and included a more effective draft or suction hose and intake. The new suction or draft hose that Heyden came up with consisted of “heavy sailcloth coated with stiff paint or cement and reinforced with metal rings to prevent it from collapsing when the air was drawn out by the first strokes of the pump. A brass strainer was fastened on the end to keep the hose and pumping machinery free from dirt.”18 In 1735 an expanded version of Heyden’s book, Brandspuitenboek, was printed in both Dutch and French.19

In all fairness, it should be mentioned that England was also credited with the introduction of a new type of wire-reinforced suction or draft hose. It was introduced by John Lofting (originally Jan Loftingh) sometime around 1690. The draft hose was attached to the hand pump fire engine called a “sucking worm engine.”20 The rest of the story is that John or Jan was a Dutch engineer and entrepreneur living in England when he introduced this machine and hose. This type of engine and name is suspiciously similar to van der Heyden’s “flexible snake” already in use in Amsterdam.

The Heyden family had not only introduced a new method of firefighting that would change the future of how the fire service operates, but also introduced the first true detailed training manual on firefighting. Unfortunately, Heyden’s important developments in fire protection occurred during the Anglo-Dutch war. Because of this, his cutting-edge work in Brandspuitenboek was not well received in England and probably was a reason the adoption of techniques described was not implemented in England and America until much later.21

Riveted Leather Fire Hose
Eventually, the use of leather hose and the concept of offensive interior attack does become accepted in America. As a result, the next significant improvement in hose would be attributed to developments in the United States.

In 1803, the Philadelphia Hose Co. No. 1 was formed by eight young men.22 Two firemen from the Hose Company began experimenting with a better way to fasten the seams of leather hide into hose. In 1807, James Sellars and Abraham Pennock came up with the idea to fasten the leather seam together with metal rivets instead of sewing the leather together.23

The use of rivets provided for the use of higher pressures and more leak-resistant hose. However, the rivets did add to the weight of a section of hose. According to Paul Hashagen, in his sub-article on the “Development of Fire Hose”, a fifty-foot section of fire hose “weighed more than 85 pounds with the couplings.”24 The riveted leather fire hose was designed to withstand “pressure of 120 to 150 lbs. per square inch.”25

The use of rivets helped overcome the deterioration of the thread by riveting leather sections together instead of sewing. However, there was still the issue of maintaining the leather itself. Various types of hose preservative oils were used along with the development of hose oilers to apply to the hose.26 Because these preservative oils gave the hose a somewhat oily or greasy nature, and to help the firemen hold or maneuver the hose lines, hose straps (hand loops) or metal rings were riveted or sewn to the hose at intervals.27

A typical technical description for leather fire hose in northeast America at the time contained the following specifications:

Pure oak, city-tanned, Baltimore or Philadelphia leather, known as “overweight,” the average weight not less than twenty-two pounds to the side, none less than twenty pounds, double riveted with copper wire size known as No. 8, twenty-two rivets to the running foot; splices made with thirteen rivets of size known as No. 7 wire, finished with three loops and rings and weight not less than sixty-four pounds to every fifty feet, exclusive of the couplings, and warranted to stand a pressure of not less than two hundred pounds to the square inch.28

The rivets were made out of premanufactured copper wire that was cut and bradded and used with washers to make the rivets during the construction of the fire hose.

Leather is made from tanned animal hide with the hair removed. The exterior side of leather becomes smooth in the tanning process, but the interior (or flesh) side of the leather has a rough pebble grain to it. This rough surface created additional friction loss inside the hose before rubber linings were implemented. One method of reducing the friction loss was to construct the hose with the tanned side on the interior of the hose and rough or pebble side out. This was probably intuitive for the inventors and artisans of the time, but it took significant research to finally verify it in writing. In Fire Captain Shaw’s book, Fire Protection, A Complete Manual of the Organization Machinery Discipline and General Working of the Fire Brigade of London, published in 1890, confirmed that “the hose to be made up with the grain of the leather inside and the flesh outside. It is also to be closed right-handed that is to say the right-hand edge of the strips looking from the female towards the male screw is to be on the outside and the left-hand edge on the inside.”29

Though the leather specifications at the time for fire hose required the leather to be made of top cowhide, it varied by location. In Arnold Merkitch’s book, Early Fire Helmets, he relates that “western Fire Engines were often furnished with hose made of ‘Buffalo Hide.”30

Although leather fire hose was first introduced by the Dutch and soon spread in Europe, it was over a century before the practice would be implemented in America. When it was, American ingenuity developed a more durable and leak-resistant piece of firefighting equipment with the introduction of the riveted fire hose. Kansas City (MO) Fire Chief George C. Hale in his book from 1905, History of the World’s Greatest Fires, summed up the significance of this invention by saying, “the substitution of copper rivets for fastening seams removed the last obstacle to its employment and leather hose has since played a conspicuous part among the instruments for extinguishing fires in America.31

During the period of the leather fire hose, two and a half inch diameter hose became a fairly standard-size hose, spreading throughout America. It would set the tradition for the future of America’s fire service. In the 1870s leather hose began to be replaced by rubber-lined woven jacketed hose. However, according to Morris’ book, Fire and Firefighters, “as late as 1900 many fire departments still had some riveted leather hose in service.”32

Woven Jacketed and Rubber Fire Hose
Beginning with Van der Hayden’s time, a type of fabric hose was tried for firefighting. Sailcloth or canvas “covered with cement or paint to make it watertight” was tried many times. Probably its greatest success was when used to make a short rigid hose reinforced with metal rings for use as a suction or drafting hose for hand-pump engines. In the early 1800s canvas or fabric hose was tried on occasion, but its tendency to leak and vulnerability to rot, tearing, and fire made it less desirable. But new developments were on the way that would reinvent woven fire hose and over time supplant riveted leather fire hose as the most desirable tool.

Rubber Lined Fabric and Woven Hose
Many historical references vary about the next developments in fire hose where rubber is added as a lining and fabric is used as an exterior jacket. This part of fire hose history may be like other instances of fire service history where innovation and developments were occurring simultaneously in different areas of the country or pursued by different people building on a predecessor’s work.

James Boyd an Irish immigrant came to Boston, MA, in 1817 and set up a saddlery and leather company, James Boyd, Saddler, who manufactured harnesses, fire buckets, and leather fire hose. A story from an article in Fire Engineering Magazine back in 1937 related that Nathan Hunt of Boston Belting Company developed a method to replace leather drive belts for machinery with cotton belts coated with rubber on one side. James Boyd saw this and came up with the idea to join the belt with rivets into a tube with rubber on the inside creating a new type of fire hose.33 Around 1821 he received a patent for a cotton “rubber-lined fire hose.”34 The Mayor of Boston “reported a 100 feet of Boyd’s fire hose would do the same work as 60 men – and do it more efficiently, faster and safer.”35 James Boyd was also a volunteer with Boston Fire Department and established a charitable organization for firemen killed or injured in the line of duty.

A mention in Scientific American, Vol. 1, No. 17, October 22, 1859, mentions that the James Boyd & Sons, of Boston, had developed a new hose that “is composed of a strong cotton webbing, not woven in tube form, like the Grenoble hempen hose, but in a plain loom, then lined with India-rubber and riveted like hose.”36

The company moved to Philadelphia, PA, and changed names to James Boyd and Brothers, Inc. They went on to build a variety of fire apparatus and in 1920 changed the company name to National Foam.

Another reference to hose development is from a nearby community of Boyd’s location in Boston. Seeking new ways to improve fire hose, Lyman Blake, who was an inventor in Cambridge, MA, in 1871 developed a machine “that could sew rubber-lined canvas into a hose.”37 Working with Col. Theodore Dodge they made improvements and began manufacturing “Blake Hose.” Continuing to make improvements on the design and machines to manufacture fire hose, Dodge worked with Robert Cowen who was an engineer. Developments included adding additional woven layers to the hose process. Ultimately, Cowen developed a new loom-weaving machine that could weave fabric in a tubular shape. This method of manufacturing rubber-lined multilayer woven jacketed hose created the new standard for durable and strong fire hose. With their success, they went on to form the Boston Woven Hose Company.38

Another inventor of this time was J. Van Dusen Reed of New York. He was also credited with inventing “a loom to weave seamless cotton hose.”39 He formed the Eureka Fire Hose Company around 1875. This weaving process eliminated the need for riveting the hose together similar to the developments in “Blake Hose” and the Boston Woven Hose Company.

The next big improvement in fire hose would come at about the same time as “Blake Hose”. This would be the advancements made by B.F. Goodrich.

B.F. Goodrich and White Anchor Fire Hose
Benjamin Franklin (B.F.) Goodrich was a surgeon for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he invested in the Hudson River Rubber Company. In 1870 he moved the company to Akron, Ohio to better utilize the growing population and other resources of the area.40

The relocated company was called Goodrich, Tew, & Co. and began operations in 1870. Some references relate that before the company’s move, Goodrich had witnessed a friend’s home destroyed by fire because the firefighting hose burst. As a result of this one of the first products he decided to produce at the new facility was a fire hose that could withstand the necessary pressures.41 The new fire hose product would be “White Anchor” fire hose and soon became a famous brand.42

Goodrich’s fire hose was made of a combination of both canvas and rubber by alternating layers of rubber and heavy cotton duck canvas over a rubber tube. Though it was a great improvement in dependable fire hose, several additional improvements in the early 1900s would truly produce a flexible, efficient, and maneuverable fire hose.43

The Company would reorganize in 1880 and become the B.F. Goodrich Company. They went on to make a variety of fire hose brands in addition to White Anchor hose including White King and Grey King hose. Later in history, they would become a worldwide concern with the manufacture of automobile tires, and ultimately in more recent times become involved in the aerospace industry.

An advertisement for the B.F. Goodrich Company in 1917 said that “its first product was a weapon to fight fire, a fire hose given to firefighters in 1871 by Dr. BF Goodrich founder of the company. Whatever claims manufacturers today make for their own fire hose they readily admit that the White Anchor brand of Dr. Goodrich first met the critical needs of a fire fighting long waged with makeshift hose.”44

Interestingly, the success of Goodrich’s fire hose company in Akron, Ohio, spawned another fire equipment business, Akron Brass, known today as a major manufacturer of firefighting nozzles and appliances. According to Akron Brass’ website, their company was formed in 1918 by B.F. Goodrich employees “with the intent of producing couplings for the rapidly growing rubber lined fire hose market.”45

Just as entrepreneurs had been quick to get into the fire apparatus manufacturing business during the age of steam and chemical fire engines, the woven and rubber-lined fire hose business was ripe for exploitation. A simple search of historical fire service publication advertisements found over a dozen companies selling woven jacketed rubber-lined fire hose by the early to mid-1900s. A number of these companies would diversify their product line and go on to make other rubber products related to the fire service, including rubberized turn-out coats and rubber fireman’s boots.

The Term Gum Hose
Historical research on the early woven jacketed hose will turn up the mention of wax and para gum fire hose. Gum was a term used for natural rubber, sometimes also called para gum or pure gum rubber. Natural rubber came from the sap of the tree Hevea brasiliensis and was first used for making rubber products and sheet rubber before the development of synthetic rubber compounds. Some of the early hose manufacturers that made fabric and rubber layered hose used the term gum for rubber in describing their hose. The Fabric Fire Hose Company’s advertisements called their product “Wax and Para Gum” fire hose. The manufacturing process was for the cotton fiber strands to be treated in a bath of melted wax and para gum and then woven into the hose jacket, usually around a rubber (para gum) interior core. Thus producing a rubber-lined woven jacketed hose that supposedly had a more durable hose jacket.46

Hose Couplings
The firefighters of today probably do not even think about how the fire hose couplings came to be, but their development has an interesting history just like the fire hose itself. Through historical research, we find that the method used to connect hoses to apparatus and each other had its development and difficulties. The exact material, composition, and design of the first fire hose couplings appear to be lost in history. Were there pressed fittings secured with ropes, or was some type of actual connector first used is open for conjecture. As previously mentioned, Van der Hayden’s hose connectors were supposedly made of either copper or brass and a screw-threaded type. The book Firemen, Fire Wagons and Fire Horses mentions that early sewn leather fire hose in America “had wooden fittings.”47 However, no other reference sources for this were found by the author.

First, we need to clarify what a coupling is. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) defines a “coupling” as “one set or pair of connection devices attached to a fire hose that allows the hose to be interconnected to additional lengths of hose or adapters and other fire fighting appliances.”48 Early fire service historical books include statements that the device needs to provide “easy and rapid connection and disconnection” to aid in the deployment of the hose.49 The “screw” or threaded type coupling became predominant during the early development of fire hose in America and remained so up through the 20th Century for most hose connections. However, many different coupling types were invented and tried. Among these were the “Snap and Slide”, the “Silsby”, the “Gaylord”, and the “Universal.”50

Threaded Type Couplings
This is not to say that the screw or threaded coupling did not have its drawbacks in the early days. Some of the drawbacks cited were: being mashed or knocked out of cylindrical form, the screw to foul or cross-thread, and it being one-directional (male and female ends). Probably the greatest problem encountered with threaded couplings was the thread design of the coupling as it varied significantly between manufacturers. Besides the diameter of the hose, the coupling thread can vary in two aspects, threads per inch (TPI) being the actual number of threads in each inch, and thread pitch which affects the space between each thread. For a fire fighting system to work, the thread on the fittings on the apparatus, the nozzle, and other hose appliances, along with the hose couplings must all match. Of course, this also applies to the fire hydrant connections of the local water system. They all must “mate up” so the items fit together functionally. The first move toward a universal hose coupling (size and thread) occurred in England, and was introduced in Edinburgh, Scotland and known as the London Fire Brigade coupling.”51 However, a standardized thread did not spread to America for many years.

The difference in coupling type, especially the thread of screw couplings, would plague the early American fire service for many years. Usually, a local community could agree on a standard for the fire thread they used, either made by a local artisan or purchased from a single vendor. The problem came about when a large fire threatened a community and they requested mutual aid from surrounding cities. The disastrous loss resulting from the Boston fire of 1872 and the Baltimore fire in 1904 were prime examples of this problem. In both cases surrounding community fire departments sent help, but they soon found that they were “unable to render assistance because their engine and hose connections would not couple up with outlets of local fire hydrants which were of a different type and diameter.”52

In 1904, Albert Merrill of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), which would become the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), conducted a study that revealed “there were about 600 sizes and variations in fire-hose couplings across the country.”53

The National Association of Fire Engineers for many years at their annual meetings voted to support a national standard for couplings, however, the expense associated with changing existing fire equipment, hydrants and other resources was considered prohibitive by most local governments. In 1913 several national organizations and the federal government agreed on a standard.54

Unfortunately, there was still the issue of cost for those departments and municipalities with non-standard fire thread to convert. Around the 1950s, San Diego Battalion Chief Robert Ely, who was also a master mechanic, invented a machine that could rethread most fire hose and appliance couplings to the national standard. The machine became known as the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer”.55

Connecting Coupling to Hose
The process of fastening the hose end to the coupling body to have secure hose ends that could be connected was another issue. One way was to rivet the hose to a collar piece located on the body of the coupling. This purportedly was also used on some cotton jacketed rubber hose.56 Though some methods of fastening hose to the coupling were used, a common one was to have the screw coupling, male and female end, made with a long “collar pipe piece” (sleeve or flange pipe) so that the open hose end could be slid over and then bind the hose to the coupling sleeve by multiple wraps of wire to secure the hose to the coupling.57 This process is sometimes called binding or seizing a hose. To assure a tight leak-proof connection when joining hose to the coupling on a riveted hose, a piece of leather was trimmed and used to fill the void to lay along the edge of the lap joint, “the hose should then be tied to the coupling-joint as firmly as possible with the best-annealed copper wire, No. 16 gauge.”58

Over time the coupling was redesigned with an interior bowl on the end of the coupling to slide the open hose into and then use an expansion sleeve (ring) inserted inside the joint and mechanically expanded to seat the hose tight against the exterior coupling bowl. This idea for an internal expansion ring was reported to have come from Andrew J. Morse and Alexander Boyd and led to the development of the “Ne Plus” coupling.59 This type of hose coupling attachment is still a method many hose manufacturers and fire departments use today.

Of course, there is much more history to learn regarding the development of fire hose couplings. Methods of tightening or loosening connected couplings by a wrench used on coupling exterior fittings that were developed, such as recessed lug, pin lug, and rocker lug all have their history. Also, there is the development of the famous “Higbee Notch” in couplings to identify the Higbee Cut. Hopefully, you as firefighters did learn some of this history from your Fire Service Instructors during recruit or rookie training.

Modern improvements would replace the heavy brass fire hose couplings with lightweight aluminum alloy couplings. A national fire hose thread standard would also over time be implemented in the United States. Couplings meeting this thread standard are marked (stamped) with NST (National Standard Thread) on older hose or more commonly today NH (National Hose). The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publishes national consensus standards that cover hose and coupling standards. The number of threads per inch (as well as pitch and height) varies by connection size, for example, 2 ½ inch NH couplings have 7.5 threads per inch while a 5” or 6” steamer connection has 4 threads per inch.60 However, even with a recognized standard today there remain variations in hose thread between many locations throughout the country.

Transporting and Deploying Period Fire Hose
With the newly implemented tactical use of leather fire hose (and later woven jacketed hose) for fire attack and water supply, a method to transport it and place it in position on the fire ground was necessary. Weighing in at about 85 lbs. per fifty-foot section, and with preservative oils making it sometimes hard to handle, a way to haul significant sections of hose and stretch or lay it on the fire ground was paramount to its effective use.

According to Herbert Jenness, in his book published in 1909, Bucket Brigade to Flying Squadron: Fire Fighting Past and Present, “one of the first conveyances for carrying hose was a two-wheeled carriage with a revolving reel (or spool) hung between the wheels on which the hose was wound.”61 A later version of this had the hose reel installed on the arched frame of a four-wheeled wagon. Both of these types of apparatus were originally hand drawn, with later versions being produced with the option of being horse-drawn. According to firemen of the time, the hand-drawn reels had the advantage of laying a line “straighter and better from a reel.”62 The two-wheeled reel cart was also referred to as the “Jumper” because it could easily jump or bounce over the curb to get close to the fire.63 However, the amount of hose they could carry and the number of personnel needed to pull them led to new developments for transporting hose.

To effectively haul more hose, a horse-drawn hose wagon was invented, the first one built is credited to Patrick Lyons. Lyons was a mechanic in Philadelphia, PA, and sold his first hose wagon to that city in 1804.64 This first hose wagon was fairly simple and similar to an “express wagon” type of the period. Being built “boxlike” it was approximately six and half feet by two and a half feet, and “could transport six hundred feet of hose.”65 Later combination apparatus wagons were longer and wider and could carry 1,000 feet of hose, along with other equipment. For many years the standard 2 ½” hose load for more modern-day fire engines was 1,000 feet of hose in the hose bed.

As mentioned in the author’s previous FFAM article, “The Chemical Fire Engine, A Part of Fire Service History”, this new type of apparatus was also used to haul hose to support steam fire engine companies. Whether the wagon was a chemical fire engine or a hose wagon, new design developments in fire apparatus were taking place in the 1800s. One of these changes was the addition of side running boards and a tailboard to the hose wagon. This for the first time provided riding positions for additional firemen. Up to that point, they either pulled the apparatus or ran alongside to the scene. Starting in the days of the hand-drawn and hand-pumped fire engines, the tradition was that no one road on the engine or apparatus, firemen were expected to pull the apparatus or run alongside it. With the lighter-weight chemical fire engines and hose wagons, horse-drawn rigs could now carry other equipment and the other firemen in the company to the scene, allowing the firefighters to be fresh and ready for firefighting operations. Here we see the beginnings of new operational procedures and traditions in the fire service, the fire crew responding as a unit by riding the apparatus on running boards and tailboards.66

Hose Drying Towers
To properly cover the history of fire hose, hose drying towers need to at least be mentioned. Regarding drying of fire hose, various means were tried over time. One method that became popular in some areas was the hose drying tower, which for a brief time changed the architecture of fire stations. Originally some firehouses already had towers associated with them, such as bell towers for signaling or watch towers to watch for fires in the area. Though some towers served multi-purposes, the newly developed fire hose created a need for a special tower. Drying towers became a somewhat common feature in the late 1800s. Usually, they were about 60’ high to hang the 50’ hose and required hoist hardware. Some towers included a stove or furnace to heat the tower and speed the drying of the hose. Though this was used generally later with fabric hose, as the heat would dry the leather hose evaporating the lubricating oils and cause them to be stiff and require more work to rejuvenate. Not all firehouses had towers, some used drying racks or bay floors to dry and services hose. Some fire departments in more moderate climates hung their hose from scaffolding on the outside of the firehouse. Though hose drying towers followed the development of leather hose in America, research failed to disclose who was the first to use a hose drying tower.

In the 1950s hose drying cabinets with heat and forced air ventilation became popular in some fire stations for drying rubber-lined fabric blend hoses. Just as the days of the horse-drawn steamer were numbered by changing technology, so too was the hose drying tower. Its use and design in new fire stations were soon eliminated due to new technological innovations in equipment and hose design. Some older fire stations and historic fire museums still have this feature as part of their architecture, thus reminding the firefighter of our history and traditions.

The Modern Fire Hose
Over time continued developments were made in the rubber manufacturing process, including the vulcanization of rubber. These and other improvements in synthetic blend fabrics and rubber compounds truly created a durable and fairly low-maintenance fire hose. The original cotton blends of fire hose still required cleaning and drying to prevent mold and deterioration. Also, the older rubber compounds required the hose to be routinely removed and rotated to keep bends in the packed hose load from creating permanent creases leading to potential cracks in the hose lining. Though the new synthetic blends do require maintenance, it is not as extensive as in the past.

In addition, the industry soon specialized in producing different types of fire hose for various applications, such as reel line, wildland, attack line, and supply line hose. Many new changes came about with supply line hose increasing sizes in the 1980s for high volume and long hose lays using five and six-inch diameters, called Large Diameter Hose (LDH). Improvements continue to be made in the manufacture of fire hose, and it will be interesting to see how the next generations of fire hose development will adapt and change fire department operations and fire ground tactics.

The firefighter of today may sometimes complain about having to load or service the fire department’s modern fire hose, but they have no idea the time required and the weight, issues, and mandatory maintenance of the original leather fire hose back in its day. Nor do most current fire officers realize how extensively the development of fire hose back in the 1600s to 1800s changed fire attack and the history and traditions of the fire service.

Early Water Supply and Hydrants
In reviewing the development of early fire hose, it should be mentioned that the community’s water supply played a role. Early fire apparatus, hand-pumped or steam-powered, relied on a water source to feed the firefighting hose lines. Early hand-pump engines relied on bucket brigades to fill the water box on the pumper using nearby wells or cisterns. Later with the development of more efficient pumps and draft or suction hose the pump could set up at the water supply and supply itself by drafting water through the pump intake. As communities grew, many developed the first local pressurized water systems dispersing water through pipes made of hollowed-out wood tree trunks that were fitted together.

A number of fire service history resources mention this is where the term “fire plug” comes from accessing the water supply through round wooden plugs driven into the water main that could be removed to obtain water for firefighting. From there came the first development of fire hydrants. According to John Morris in his book Fires and Firefighters, George Smith a fireman built the first successful hydrant in 1817, installing it along the street in front of his home.67 However, the account of the development of water systems and fire hydrants has its own story in fire service history. The author encourages the curious firefighter to do some research on this interesting aspect of fire service history and how it shaped our current operations and traditions.

Perspective on Historic Fire Hose
Regarding historic fire hose, the question arises of how much leather or more specifically how many cow hides were required to make a section of leather fire hose? I could not find any written references to this during my research. However, in a conversation with Steve Heaver, Museum Director and Curator Emeritus of the Fire Museum of Maryland, he related that the museum in its conservatorship of historic fire hose has worked to recreate riveted leather fire hose. He said that one cowhide will make about nine feet of hose (depending on the size of the hide).68 Some simple arithmetic indicates that a fifty-foot section of hose would take five and a half hides. Or a 1,000-foot hose load on a hose wagon would require over one hundred hides. That is a significant amount of cowhide. Is it little wonder that firemen of the day spent so much effort to preserve and care for their department’s investment in fire hose?

Despite the cost and difficulty with leather hose, it was recognized as an essential piece of equipment and large quantities were held by fire departments. In Arnold Merkitch’s book, Early Fire Helmets, he relates that by 1865, New York City volunteer fire departments reportedly had “59,850 feet of Leather Hose.”69 Based on the previous research and some presumptions, probably only about half this amount was actually in service on wagons or reels. The other half would be either in reserve to switch out hose loads after use or in the process of drying, treatment, or undergoing maintenance.

Despite the large quantity of historic fire hose being used at the time, very little in comparison has survived to the present day. The fire service veteran or collector will find that it is very difficult to find examples of leather fire hose, let alone a complete piece of hose with couplings. Today this historic fire hose can be found with some historic fire companies that have preserved their past, and in some fortunate fire museums that have been able to acquire examples on antique fire reels or other donations. The ability of a fire museum to display this unique artifact enables the public discussion of this important development in the fire service and how it instituted the modern fire tactics used today.

Resources and Cautions
For the Museum Curator or Conservator of antique fire equipment, as well as the fire service buff or collector, many resources can be of use in the re-creation, preservation and conservation of historic fire hose. Unfortunately, the reference resources that I have found are related to the period of the original hose and its use and maintenance while in service. Among these are an article and two books: “Leather Hose: To Make and Repair”, Saddlery and Harness, July 1896, Publisher T. Kirby & Son, Walsall, London; James Braidwood’s Fire Prevention and Fire Extinction, Bell and Daldy, London, 1866; and, Captain Eyre M. Shaw’s Fire Protection, A Complete Manual of the Organization Machinery Discipline and General Working of the Fire Brigade of London, Printed by Charles and Edwin Layton, London, 1890. The last book’s second edition contains detailed information on the care and management of both leather and rubber-jacketed fire hose of the period. However, it is a practical guide of its period, and some “unguents” for keeping the hose preserved and pliable, such as tallow and cod oil would not be well received by the olfactory senses of today’s museum visitor. So some modifications such as using newer products for cleaning leather hose like saddle soap and pure Neatsfoot Oil (no additives) for the preservation and suppleness of the leather should be considered. Historic Conservators or leather artisans who have experience or apprenticed with leather fire hose repair and conservation should be consulted to make sure no damage is done during the restoration efforts. As always in the restoration or retrofit of antique fire equipment or components, a modification may affect the provenance or historical importance of the artifact.

Tallow or other preservatives used over time on leather fire hose will harden and leave a waxy appearance on the surface of the hose. It can be cleaned with mild leather cleaners such as saddle soap using a gentle application method. Verdigris of the copper rivets is a green-colored corrosion occurring on the surface caused by aging or environmental exposure and even reacting with the oils in the leather. Though it gives what antique collector purists like to call “age patina”, it can and will over time corrode away the copper and deteriorate the leather. This corrosion can also occur on the wire wrap used to secure the hose end to the wire-wrapped coupling. Some more elaborate cleaning includes the use of cotton swabs and dental picks to physically remove the green-colored corrosion around each rivet and washer. Some hose may have been neglected and deteriorated over time to the point that is too brittle to be rejuvenated with normal cleaning and preservatives. Care should be taken to examine antique hose and only handle and work with hose that is still pliable. Hose that is too degraded for normal cleaning should be professionally restored by museum-trained conservators in a laboratory setting.

Some words of caution. Historic fire hose should not be used for fire flow demonstrations or pressurized due to potential failure that would damage the hose and create a safety issue. Some museums have worked to reconstruct new leather hose using historic guidelines for historic recreations and demonstrations with proper testing and safety precautions.

It should be understood that this article does not provide the necessary knowledge and practical training experience to teach one how to repair or conserve historic fire hose, nor should it be substituted for appropriate instruction and apprenticeship under the supervision of a conservator or artisan qualified and experienced with antique leather or fabric fire hose and equipment.

The Legacy of Change, Traditions, and the Modern Age
Today firefighters take for granted this common piece of fire equipment, the fire hose, and fail to realize its important role in providing the mechanism that would institute the modern fire service. Its development led to the implementation of tactics and concepts that would form the overall strategy of the modern fire service.

Beginning as a flexible tube of leather to transfer water to a hand pump fire engine, it would soon develop into both a means of water supply and aggressive fire attack changing the nature of fire ground operations. These new developments and techniques instituted by Dutchman Jan van der Heyden would form the basis for his book Brandspuitenboek (or Fire Engine Book) which would be the first training manual on firefighting.

Though the use of fire hose in America came years after its first use in Europe, American inventors and fire service practitioners would enhance and improve the fire hose into a durable and versatile piece of equipment. They would also embrace the concept, first espoused by Van der Heyden, of the principles of aggressive interior fire attack that would shape modern fire tactics. The use of hose itself brought about changes to the method of connecting hose sections through coupling design and led to the inability to control some fires until they became catastrophic conflagrations due to mismatched hose couplings. This problem would lead fire service organizations to call for and implement a national standard for fire hose thread. Also, the method of transporting and deploying hose would make sweeping changes to the new concept of fire apparatus design and function. Fire crews would now arrive together by riding the multi-purpose hose wagon apparatus to the scene. Further developments in the 20th Century would bring synthetic jacketed high-pressure hose along with large diameter hose to the fire ground and operations. It is exciting to think about what new developments in fire hose will occur and how those developments will enhance or change future fire service tactics.

The simple function of getting water on the fire created major difficulties for our fire service predecessors. Much of this history has unfortunately faded over time, and the firefighters of today fail to realize how extensively the development of fire hose back in the 1600s to 1800s changed fire attack and the history and traditions of the fire service. It is up to fire service historians and preservationists to preserve and relate the true story of this important part of fire service history and its impact on the modern fire service.

Can we still learn from fire service history today? Hopefully, your department has planned and practiced mutual aid responses with neighboring departments and learned from history. Part of this planning should be checking to make sure your hose couplings and other fittings are compatible, or the procurement of the necessary adapters, so that when the big all-hands emergency comes the departments in your region can work together to successfully fulfill their traditional mission of protecting lives and property, using that most basic of tools, the fire hose.

Author’s Comments
The author wishes to recognize and thank the fire service personnel and organizations for their assistance in the development of this article. In particular, the author expresses his appreciation to Steve Holtmeier, Captain JCFD, and President of the Jefferson City Fire Museum; Steve Heaver, Museum Director and Curator Emeritus of The Fire Museum of Maryland; and the University of Missouri Ellis Library/Lending Library for assisting the author in obtaining the inter-library loan of various research documents and archival materials.

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Endnotes
1 Jennifer L. Reed, Editor, Illustrated Dictionary of Fire Service Terms, National Fire Protection Association, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, Massachusetts, 2006, p. 55.
2 Thomas Ewbank, A Descriptive and Historical Account of Hydraulic and Other Machines for Raising Water, Ancient and Modern; Including the Progressive Development of the Steam Engine. London: Tilt and Bogue, Fleet Street, 1842, p. 328. Accessed through Google Books Jan. 20, 2023, https://books.google.com/books?id=Mi8aAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PR13&dq=greek%20heron%20fire%20hose.&pg=PR14#v=onepage&q=greek%20heron%20fire%20hose.&f=false
3 Ripley, George, and Dana Charles A., Editors, The New American Cyclopedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Vol. VII, “Fire Engine”, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1872, p. 516. Accessed through Google Books, Jan. 20, 2023, https://books.google.com/books?id=TulDAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA516&dq=ox%20gut%20used%20as%20fire%20hose&pg=PA516#v=onepage&q=ox%20gut%20used%20as%20fire%20hose&f=false
4 Joe Burgett, “40 Ancient Greek Technology and Concepts Still Used Today” (20 Fire Hose), Science Sensei, 2020, web article accessed Jan. 23, 2023 https://sciencesensei.com/40-ancient-greek-technology-and-concepts-still-used-today/21/.
5 “Heron of Alexandria”, Ancient Greece Reloaded, web article accessed Jan. 20, 2023, https://www.ancientgreecereloaded.com/files/ancient_greece_reloaded_website/great_persons/heron_of_alexandria.php.
6 Ewbank, p. 312.
7 “A Brief History of Firefighting in Europe”, PELI Products S.L.U., Barcelona, Spain, Mar. 3, 2021, web article accessed Jan. 25, 2023, https://blog.peli.com/areas-of-interest/fire-rescue-industrial-safety/brief-history-of-firefighting-in-europe.
8 Ewbank, p. 326.
9 Susan Donahue Kuretsky, “Saving Amsterdam. Jan van der Heyden and the Art of Firefighting”, from the work: Urb’s incense Aesthetic Transformations of the Brennenden Stadt in der Frühen Neuzeit, by Herausgegeben von Vera Fionie Koppenleitner, Hole Rößler and Michael Thimann, © 2011 Deutscher Kunstverlag GmbH Berlin München, p. 159.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid, p. 162.
12 Ibid, p. 163.
13 Ewbank, p. 328.
14 Ibid, p. 329.
15 Edward Henry Knight, Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary: Being a Description of Tools, Instruments, Machines, Processes, Engineering: History of Inventions: General Technological Vocabulary: and Digest of Mechanical Appliances in Science and the Arts, Volume 2, New York: J.B. Ford and Company, 1875, p. 1131. Accessed through Google Books Feb. 7, 2023, https://books.google.com/books?id=UXJHAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA1131&dq=old%20leather%20hose%20attachment%20to%20coupling%20by%20wire%20wrapping&pg=PA1131#v=onepage&q=old%20leather%20hose%20attachment%20to%20coupling%20by%20wire%20wrapping&f=false
16 Ewbank, p. 330.
17 Kuretsky, p. 160.
18 John V. Morris, Fires and Firefighters, Bramhall House: New York, 1955, p. 60.
19 Kuretsky P. 173.
20 “Fighting Fire with John Lofting’s Patented ‘Sucking Worm Engine’ “, Society of Antiquaries of London, London, United Kingdom, 2020, web article accessed Jan. 26, 2023, https://www.sal.org.uk/collections/explore-our-collections/collections-highlights/john-lofting-fire-engine/.
21 Kuretsky, p. 162.
22 Dennis Smith, Dennis Smith’s History of Firefighting in America, 300 Years of Courage, Dial Press: New York, 1978, p. 30.
23 Paul Hashagen, “Firefighting in Colonial America”, Firehouse Magazine, September 1998, Cygnus Publishing: New York, p. 74.
24 Ibid.
25 “Leather Hose: To Make and Repair”, Saddlery and Harness, July 1896, Publisher T. Kirby & Son, Walsall, London, p. 277.
26 Hashagen, p. 74.
27 Herbert Theodore Jenness, Bucket Brigade to Flying Squadron: Fire Fighting Past and Present, Cambridge, Mass, 1909, p 77.
28 Morris, p. 61.
29 Eyre M. Shaw, Captain, Fire Protection, A Complete Manual of the Organization Machinery Discipline and General Working of the Fire Brigade of London, Printed by Charles and Edwin Layton, London, 1890, p. 117. Accessed through Google Books: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fire_Protection/p_pCAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
30 Arnold Merkitch, Early Fire Helmets, Self-published, West Islip, NY, First edition, 1981, p. 60.
31 George C. Hale, History of the World’s Greatest Fires, Franklin Hudson Publishing Co., Kansas City, MO, 1905, p. 92. Accessed through Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/History_of_the_World_s_Greatest_Fires/1dsrAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
32 Morris, p. 62.
33 “History of Hose”, Fire Engineering Magazine, Vol. 90, No. 5, May 1937, Case-Shepperd-Mann Publishing Corporation, New York, P.246. Accessed Feb. 11, 2023, via Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/sim_fire-engineering_1937-05_90_5/page/246/mode/1up.
34 Robert Serio, “History of Boyd & Son Boston, Massachusetts”, Missouri Boot & Shoe Company, Neosho, MO, web article accessed Feb. 2, 2023, https://www.missouribootandshoe.com/james-boyd.html.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
37 Katie MacDonald, “Innovation in Cambridge, Fire Hoses 27 Hampshire Street”, Cambridge Historical Society, web article accessed Feb. 2, 2023, https://historycambridge.org/innovation/Boston%20Woven%20Hose.html.
38 Ibid.
39 “History of Hose”, Fire Engineering Magazine, Vol. 90, No. 5, May 1937, P.246.
40 “B.F. Goodrich”, Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, Encyclopedia.com. (February 3, 2023). https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bf-goodrich.
41 Tire Review Staff, “Part 1 : A Look Back at the Early Days of the Akron Rubber Industry”, Tire Review, Babcox Media, Inc., Akron, Ohio, 2014, (from an original book by Ralph Busbey, “A Centennial History of Akron 1825-1925,” Summit County Historical Society, Akron, Ohio, 1925), web article accessed Feb. 5, 2023, https://www.tirereview.com/early-akron-rubber-industry/.
42 Ibid.
43 LA County Fire Department, “Hose – History, Construction, and Care”, Hose, General Information, 04/29/2021, web article accessed Feb. 5, 2023, https://supportlacountyfire.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Hose-History-V4-C2-S1.pdf.
44 BF Goodrich Advertisement, The Saturday Evening Post, Vol. 190, October 17, 1917, p. 84. Accessed through Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=N5JJAQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA6-PA84&dq=bf%20Goodrich%20White%20Anchor%20fire%20hose&pg=RA6-PA84#v=onepage&q=bf%20Goodrich%20White%20Anchor%20fire%20hose&f=false
45 “Akron Brass Company Our Story – Akron Brass Historical Information”, Akron Brass Manufacturing Company, Wooster, OH, copyrighted 2021, web article accessed Feb. 5, 2023, https://www.akronbrass.com/about-history/.

46 “Among the Fire Supply Manufacturers”, Fire and Water Engineering, Vol. 36, July 1, 1904 to December 31, 1904, Shepperd & Burnham, New York, p. 132. Accessed through Google Books, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fire_and_Water_Engineering/-e9sBL9zT3QC?hl=en&gbpv=0
47 Dave A. Hubert, Firemen, Fire Wagons and Fire Horses, Fire Service Training Institute Deer Valley Press, Goleta, CA, 2022, p. 106.
48 Jennifer L. Reed, Editor, NFPA’s Illustrated Dictionary of Fire Service Terms, National Fire Protection Association, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, MA, 2006, p.31.
49 Stephen Roper and Henry L. Stellwagen, Hand-Book of Modern Steam Fire-Engines. Second Edition, David McKay Publisher, Philadelphia. PA, 1889, p. 129.
50 Ibid, p. 130-131.
51 James Braidwood, 1st Superintendent London Fire Brigade, Fire Prevention and Fire Extinction, Bell and Daldy, London, 1866, p. 21. Accessed through Google Books Feb. 13, 2023, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fire_Prevention_and_Fire_Extinction/YrCtigzowsEC?hl=en&gbpv=0
52 S. W. Stratton, Director, “National Standard Hose Couplings and Fittings for Public Fire Service”, Department of Commerce Circular of the Bureau of Standards, No. 50, 2nd Edition, June 8, 1917, Government Printing Office, Washington, p.3.
53 Momar D. Seck and David D. Evans, “Major U.S. Cities Using National Standard Fire Hydrants, One Century After the Great Baltimore Fire”, United States Department of Commerce Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 2004, p. 8. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-C13-c33f9384233e5a13eca491ede462acdf/pdf/GOVPUB-C13-c33f9384233e5a13eca491ede462acdf.pdf
54 Stratton, Director, “National Standard Hose Couplings and Fittings for Public Fire Service”, p. 10.
55 “North American Fire Hose Coupler Incompatibilities”, Wikipedia, web article accessed Feb. 1, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Fire_Hose_Coupler_Incompatibilities.
56 “History of Hose”, Fire Engineering Magazine, Vol. 90, No. 5, May 1937, p.246.
57 Knight, p. 1131.
58 James Braidwood, 1st Superintendent London Fire Brigade, Fire Prevention and Fire Extinction, p. 137.
59 “History of Hose”, Fire Engineering Magazine, Vol. 90, No. 5, May 1937, P.246.
60 NFPA 1962: Standard for the Care, Use, Inspection, Service Testing, and Replacement of Fire Hose, Couplings, Nozzles, and Fire Hose Appliances, 2018 Edition, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA.
61 Jenness, p. 7.
62 Ibid.
63 Smith, p. 31.
64 Jenness, p. 66.
65 Smith, p. 31.
66 David E. Hedrick, “The Chemical Fire Engine, A Part of Fire Service History”, Fire Fighters Association of Missouri Magazine, Vol. 66, Issue 1, January-February 2023, FFAM, Warrensburg, MO, p. 47.
67 John V. Morris, Fires and Firefighters, p. 77.
68 Steve Heaver, Museum Director and Curator Emeritus, The Fire Museum of Maryland, Lutherville, MD, phone conversation Jan. 28, 2023.
69 Merkitch, Early Fire Helmets, p. 61.