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The origins of the Fire Department of New York City date back to 1648, but it wasn’t until 1865 that the modern-day FDNY first was established with the creation of the Metropolitan Fire Department (M.F.D.). The first professional unit, Engine Company Number 1, went into service on July 31,1865, at four Centre Street in Manhattan.
- The First Firefighters Were Dutch
- The City of New York
- Engine Company Number 1
- The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
- 20Th-Century Firefighting
- Financial Crisis and Social Unrest
- The 9/11 Attacks
The origins of the FDNY date back to 1648, when New York was a Dutch settlement known as New Amsterdam. A recently arrived immigrant called Peter Stuyvesant formed a group of local volunteer fire wardens who became known as ‘the bucket brigades’. This was due to their equipment being little more than a large number of buckets and ladders that the g...
In 1663 the British took over the New Amsterdam settlement and renamed it New York. As the city’s population expanded, a more efficient means of fighting fires was needed. A system of hoses was introduced alongside more elaborate fire fighting apparatus such as hand pumpers, hook and ladder trucks, and hose reels, all of which had to be hand-drawn.
In 1865 the first professional unit, Engine Company Number 1, went into service in Manhattan. This was the year that New York firefighters became full-time public employees. The first ladder trucks were pulled by two horses and carried wooden ladders. Around the same time, the city’s first Emergency Medical Service appeared, with horse-drawn ambula...
On 25 March 1911, a large fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory killed 146 people, many of them workers who had become trapped inside the building. It triggered a wave of reform to New York State Labor Law, which rolled out the first laws in regards to mandatory fire escapes and fire drills at work. In 1912 the Bureau of Fire Prevention w...
The department rapidly expanded over the next 100 years to prepare for the possibility of attack during multiple foreign wars, whilst dealing with the complexity of protecting the city’s fast-growing population. The FDNY developed equipment and strategies to fight fires along the vast waterfront area of the city with a squad of fire-fighting boats....
As New York’s prosperity dwindled in the 1960s and 1970s, poverty and civil unrest grew, leading to what became known as the city’s ‘war years’. Property values slumped, so landlords took to burning down their assets for insurance payouts. Arson rates rose, and firefighters were increasingly attacked while riding on the outside of their vehicles. I...
The September 11 terror attacks took the lives of some 3,000 people, including 343 New York City firefighters. Search and rescue efforts at Ground Zero, as well as the clearance of the site, lasted for 9 months. The flames at Ground Zero were only fully extinguished on 19 December 2001, 99 days after the attack. The FDNY received roughly 2 million ...
- Celeste Neill
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1 day ago · The history of the New York Fire Department is a testament to the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of the men and women who have served as the city‘s first line of defense against fire and disaster for over 350 years. From the bucket brigades of the Dutch colonial era to the heroes of 9/11 and beyond, the FDNY has been a constant presence ...
Although the 1737 Act created the basis of the fire department, the actual legal entity was incorporated in the State of New York on March 20, 1798 under the name of "Fire Department, City of New York." The city's oldest fire company still in operation was organized July 10, 1772 as Hook and Ladder Co. 1.
On January 16th, 1865 a bill was introduced in the State Legislature entitled "An Act to Create a Metropolitan Fire District" which included the establishment of the so衏alled Metropolitan Fire District, a Board of Fire Commissioners (appointed by the governor), and a paid department.
The Fire Department of the City of New York has a long history of firefighting, extending back to the days of Dutch colonization. The Museum tells this story through our vast collection of objects, memorabilia, and photographs.
Sep 10, 2021 · Summary. On Sept. 11, 2001, the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) was transformed in a matter of minutes. It took three months to extinguish the flames at the World Trade Center, and...
