Moments in the history of fire equipment

Godfrey’s invention was stationary, the small explosions releasing containers of liquid should fire enter the room it was located in. In that regard, we might perceive it as a distant ancestor of our modern sprinkler systems.

In the early 1800s, English inventor Captain George Manby introduced a three-gallon copper tank containing a pressurised solution of potassium carbonate and compressed air. It was the forerunner of the modern fire extinguisher, which uses pressurised gas to release one of several types of fire suppressant, each designed for specific accelerants.

Subsequent steps towards the development of modern fire hoses included the first use of metal rivets to join leather lengths (American firemen James Sellars and Abraham Pennock in 1807), the development of a rubber lined, cotton-webbed fire hose (by James Boyd in 1821) and the standardisation of couplings in 1873 (by the International Association of Fire Engineers) to ensure different sized hoses could be easily joined during a fire.

Over the 20th century, leather hoses were gradually replaced by cotton and large diameter versions that were lightweight, durable and flexible.

Fire brigades now equip engines with water tanks, cranes and ladders plus sophisticated equipment including breathing apparatus, thermal cameras and drones.

Closer to home in NSW, the Australian Insurance Company started a Fire Brigade in Sydney in 1836 (replacing a sole military brigade); The Fire Brigades Act came into effect in 1884 leading to the development of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB); and the City of Sydney Fire Station opened in Castlereagh Street in 1888.

In 1855, Goulburn established the first fire brigade outside Sydney, followed closely by Newcastle and Maitland. In 1910 The Fire Brigades Act was enlarged to cover the state and MFB was replaced by a new Board of Fire Commissioners and an organisation called the New South Wales Fire Brigade (NSWFB). In 2011, its name changed to today’s Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW).

“There was a major bowling club fire in the early 1990s,” he says, “and it emerged that different parties were maintaining systems independently. No one was taking a holistic look at buildings and how systems interface together.”

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