PMM - The Magazine

• The cost to train and equip a firefighter is approximately $7,400

• Services contributed by volunteer firefighters save localities across the country an estimated $37.2 billion per year.

• The majority of fire departments in the United States are volunteer. Of the total 30,542 fire departments in the country, 21,671 are all volunteer; 5,271 are mostly volunteer; 1,582 are mostly career; and 2,018 are all career.

• Volunteers comprise 73% of firefighters in the United States. Of the total estimated 1,096,250 volunteer and paid firefighters across the country, 800,050 are volunteer.

• Many early firefighters grew mustaches and beards. These were crude smoke filters. A theory is stated that the firemen would fill the beard with water, stick it in their mouths and breathe through the wet hairs.

• Many Volunteer firefighters established fines ca. 1800 (These were stiff fees at the time.)
  No helmet worn at a fire $.25
  No badge worn on shirt $.25
  Failure to attend a meeting $.50
  Discussing politics at a meeting $1.00
  Improper behavior at a meeting $1.00
  Swearing during a meeting* $1.00
  Coming to a meeting intoxicated $1.00
  Smoking a cigar $.25
  Chewing tobacco $.25

• When a new engine arrived at a station, it was painted a drab gray. The volunteers decided how to decorate it. The time and money devoted to this undertaking was often mind boggling. Zophar Mills, a foreman of Eagle Engine Company in New York wrote, “I kept an account of my expenses in connection with the Fire Department, and I found that in seven years I had paid three thousand dollars.” Each company wanted their apparatus to be more lavish than other fire departments. After selected a paint color or colors, the firemen found funds to purchase additional embellishments such as plating (silver, gold, brass, or copper), inlays, mirrors and lanterns with colored lenses.

  A pumper was incomplete without a painting. Many had more than four. Some companies hired well-known artists of the day to decorate their equipment. Many rigs sported elaborate decorations.

The insignia of the fire service is the Cross Pattee-Nowy, otherwise known as the Maltese Cross. The cross represents the fire service ideals of saving lives and extinguishing fires. The fire service borrows the emblem of the cross from the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights Hospitallers), a charitable, non-military organization that existed during the 11th and 12th centuries that helped the sick and poor in setting up hospices and hospitals. Later, they assisted the Knights of the Crusades through their goodwill and also through military assistance in an effort to the Island of Malta, the island for which the Maltese Cross was named.

The need for an identifiable emblem for the knights had become crucial. Because of the extensive armor which covered their entire bodies and faces, the knights were unable to distinguish friend from foe in battle. They chose the cross of Calvery as their symbol, since they fought their battles as a holy cause. The cross was later called the "Maltese Cross" and represented the principles of charity, loyalty, chivalry, gallantry, generosity to friend and foe, protection of the weak, and dexterity in service.

During the Crusades, many knights became fire fighters out of necessity. Their enemies had resorted to throwing glass bombs containing naptha and sailing their war vessels containing naptha, rosin, sulphur, and flaming oil into the vessels of the knights. Many knights were called to perform heroic deeds by rescuing fellow knights and extinguishing fires. In acknowledgement of these feats, the cross worn by these knights was decorated and inscribed. This was considered a most honorable acclaim.