Philadelphia celebrates America's first volunteer fire company in "52 Weeks of Firsts"
Philadelphia marked the third week of its "52 Weeks of Firsts" series Saturday with an event highlighting the origins of America's first volunteer fire company — coinciding with Benjamin Franklin's 320th birthday.
Franklin founded the nation's first volunteer fire company, the Union Fire Company, in 1736.
Families and visitors toured Fireman's Hall Museum in Old City, which is housed in a renovated firehouse from 1898, according to its website.
Guests learned how early firefighting in Philly relied on hand pumps, bucket brigades and later, leather hoses — some of the technology predating American independence.
"We're celebrating how we started as a volunteer organization and we gravitated from that to a paid department," Brian Anderson, a Philadelphia firefighter and the museum's historian and curator, said.
Exhibits traced the evolution of tools and equipment used from the volunteer era to the paid era. One of the oldest hand engines on display dates to 1752.
"You're actually pumping by hand to build the pressure to squirt water to extinguish fire," Anderson said.
For many families, the event doubled as a hands-on history lesson.
"I think it's crazy," Dina Gigliotti, who attended with her 12-year-old son, said . "I was just looking at the wooden water main, how it was like wooden. I'm just trying to figure that out. Like, the water went through wood!"
Others reacted to early fire hoses.
"I didn't know the old hoses were made out of leather," Michele Jordan said.
A Boy Scout troop from Hatboro tried racing to put on fire uniforms the fastest.
"They seem to be enjoying it," Troop leader Keith Grimes said.
Inside the museum, the event also underscored the risks modern firefighters continue to face. A memorial wall features the names of more than 300 Philadelphia fire fighters killed in the line of duty.
"I'm the person who puts those names on when members die in the line of duty," Anderson said. "It doesn't matter if it's volunteer or paid: the mission is still the same. First responders have an obligation to keep the citizens safe and protect their property, and that mission is still carried on today."
The "52 Weeks of Firsts" series is part of Philadelphia's lead-up to America's 250th anniversary, featuring a new historic "first" each week through the end of the year.