 CRUCIBLE OF FIRE
Our long-term survival and development of society depended on the control of fire. Mastery of fire required knowledge and the development of accepted practices for control. City-dwellers grew dependent on fire for their survival; they had to learn to control it. Humans learned to follow fire control practices every day to ensure preservation of the means of survival, whether in a primitive or industrial society. Failure to follow the rules carried a high price, even death.
Urban conflagrations terrorized the citizens of nineteenth-century American cities. Rebirth in the aftermath of fire offered a chance to shape the future. Sometimes they got it right and other times, they repeated earlier mistakes. The fires set people and organizations into motion with the common goal of learning how to control and prevent urban fires. Ultimately, our urban landscape witnessed change in the methods of constructing buildings, planning of city streets, engineering of water distribution systems, underwriting of fire insurance, and firefighting itself. The practical knowledge gained from fighting nineteenth-century fires gave form and function to modern fire protection efforts.
The fires formed a crucible of learning for firefighters, engineers, architects, and underwriters. Crucible of Fire provides a veteran firefighter’s perspective into the context from which modern firefighting developed. The intent is to help readers understand the modern fire service through the lens of history. Crucible of Fire: Nineteenth Century Urban Fires and the Making of the Modern Fire Service (Potomac Books, 2011).
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