Engines

The first fire engines pumped water and are still referred to as pumpers in the fire service. They could do work for the firefighters by sending out streams of water into the fire. This meant that the firefighters didn't have to get too close to the fire to throw the buckets of water on it. They didn't have to carry the water that far either.

These pumpers had to be carried or pulled to the fire by the firefighters and put near the fire. The water was then hand carried to the pumper and the bucket brigade filled the tank at the end of the pumper body. They had to keep the tank full until the fire was out. It was hard work.

While the exact date is not known, it is recorded that the first fire engines were designed by the Egyptians around the year 200 BC. Others say it was the Greeks around 4 BC. The design was used by the Romans up to the fall of the empire around the year 400 AD.

In the time that followed, up to around 1100 AD, nearly all was forgotten about fire engines. Fire engines began to reappear in Europe, first in Germany, then throughout the lands.



	Place your mouse over the picture to pump the water.

Before the reinvention of the fire engine the only way to get water to a fire was to carry it in buckets or pails. The water was then thrown onto the fire to put it out. It was hard work and it was dangerous because the firefighters had to get really close to the fire.

When the fire engine was reintroduced, water still had to be carried to the pumper from a well or other place that had enough water to use.



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