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.

Fire department vehicles outside a fire station in Middleborough, Massachusetts , United States
Areal photograph of a public display by the German Fire Services
Fire Station No. 1 in Los Angeles , California , United States, one of over 100 stations in the Los Angeles Fire Department
Firefighters taking part in a training exercise in Vaughan , Ontario , Canada
Knox Automobile produced the first modern fire engine in 1905
A 1951 Dennis P12 fire tender as formerly used by the Wiltshire Fire Brigade
A Fire and Rescue NSW truck in 2008
Polish Firefighters from Nowy Sącz , Special Rescue Group with rescue dogs
Plaque with the history of the department in Haddonfield, New Jersey