Fire department

Fire departments are most commonly a public sector organization that operate within a municipality, county, state, nation, or special district.

[2] In some countries, fire departments may also run an ambulance service, staffed by volunteer or professional EMS personnel.

Most places are covered by a public sector fire department, which is established by a local or national government and funded by taxation.

Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, and the Philippines have national fire and rescue services.

In some countries or regions (e.g., the United States, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau), fire departments can be responsible for providing emergency medical services.

The EMS personnel may either be cross-trained as firefighters or a separate division of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics.

[3] These men fought fires using bucket chains and also patrolled the streets with the authority to impose corporal punishment upon those who violated fire-prevention codes.

[8] The city of Boston, Massachusetts established America's first publicly funded, paid fire department in 1678.

Another early American fire department, staffed by unpaid volunteers,[14] was established in the city of Petersburg, Virginia in 1773.