History of firefighting
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The history of organized firefighting began in ancient Rome while under the rule of the first Roman Emperor Augustus. Prior to that, Ctesibius, a Greek citizen of Alexandria, developed the first fire
Firefighter from Warsaw wearing equipment for breathing in smoke ca. 1870
A hypothetical reconstruction of Ctesibius' and Heron's first fire pump at Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, in Athens, Greece.
Firefighters tackling a fire in London using hand-pumped engines ca. 1808
A helmet used by the superintendent of the Auckland Fire Board till 1874
Vigiles
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Vigiles or more properly the Vigiles Urbani or Cohortes Vigilum were the firefighters and police of ancient Rome.
History of firefighting
…century BC, which was later improved upon in a design by Hero of Alexandria in the first century BC. Roman Emperor Augustus formed a group of slaves, Vigiles, in AD 6 to combat fires using bucket brigades and pumps, as well as poles, hooks and even ballistae to tear down buildings in advance of the flames…
Graffiti from wardroom of 7th Cohort