Kingston Fire

The man who established the first volunteer fire department also invented bifocals,
wrote and printed Poor Richard's Almanack, studied electricity and helped draft the
Declaration of Independence. His name was Benjamin.

Ben Franklin moved to Philadelphia from Boston at the age of eighteen. Boston had been
greatly affected by fire. The city of Boston experienced major fires in 1653 and 1676.
After the fire in 1676, Boston purchased a London pumper. The city then hired Thomas
Atkins and twelve other men to fight fires. These were the first paid firefighters in the
United States. In 1711, another major fire occurred in Boston. One hundred ten families
lost their homes. At the age of six Benjamin Franklin witnessed this fire. Concerned
citizens banded together and formed The Mutual Fire Societies in 1711. When fire struck
a member of the Mutual Fire Society, other members of the club rushed to help battle
the blaze. Each society had approximately twenty members. Dennis Smith stated the
following: "The Mutual Fire Societies became social as well as protective associations,
setting a pattern for organized volunteer firefighting groups, which would one day be the
backbone of firefighting in America and would dominate it for a century and a half."

In 1733, Ben Franklin often wrote about the dangers of fire and the need for organized
fire protection in his newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette. Ben Franklin was familiar
with Boston's Mutual Fire Societies which were also known as "Fire Clubs." But the "Fire
Clubs" existed for the protection of its members, not the community at large. Collins
wrote that [Ben Franklin] "wanted organizations that would battle all fires, regardless of
whose property was burning."

After an extensive fire in Philadelphia in 1736, Franklin created a fire brigade called The
Union Fire company with 30 volunteers. The first full-fledged volunteer firefighter in
America was Isaac Paschall. The idea of volunteer fire brigades gained popularity. Not
wanting more than 30-40 men per company, additional companies were formed in
Philadelphia. Some of them were: The Fellowship, Hand-in-Hand and Heart-in-Hand, and
Friendship Companies. Each of the companies paid for their own equipment and located
it throughout town at strategic places. Most early fire companies in Philadelphia and
other cities had professionals, wealthier merchants and tradespeople serving in the
volunteer fire department. These citizens were able to afford to purchase equipment and
pay fines for missing meetings and fires.

Some famous Americans who served as volunteer firefighters were:
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John
Hancock, Paul Revere, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, John Barry, Aaron Burr, Benedict
Arnold, James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore also served as volunteer firemen.