American cities and towns suffered great fires from the colonial era into the early twentieth century. In that time fire was never conquered, only controlled. The level of control achieved meant that the scope of fires went from whole cities, to blocks, to neighboring buildings, to single buildings, to floors, to a single floor, to room clusters, and now to mostly just a room and its contents. Despite fewer fires today, the courage, devotion, and vigilance of firefighters remains strong.

Late nineteenth century America was literally a crucible of fire from which the modern fire service evolved. My goal is to explore the historical development of fire services and their role in society through writing, photography, and illustration. The photos you see on this website are mine, posted for public view for the first time since they were shot years ago. The photos depict urban, structural firefighting in America as it appeared in the late twentieth century, as viewed through the eyes of one firefighter.