Education - FDNY History

A Quick History of the FDNY - by Peter Rothenberg and Geoff Giglierano
Chapter 1: Begining With a Blaze	Chapter 8: The Process of Professionalization
Chapter 2: The First Fire Engines	Chapter 9: Faster and Better in a Changing City
Chapter 3: Competition	Chapter 10: Covering More Ground
Chapter 4: Hear the Loud Alarm Bells	Chapter 11: Firefighting Starts Becoming a Science
Chapter 5: Pumpers and Politics	Chapter 12: Larger Events Affect the Department
Chapter 6: Decline of the Volunteer System	Chapter 13: FDNY and Times of Social Upheaval
Chapter 7: Volunteer Department's Demise	Chapter 14 The Job Goes On

Chapter 1: Begining With a Blaze

"It has come to the knowledge of his excellency, the Director-General, that certain careless persons were in the habit of neglecting to clean their chimneys by sweeping, and of paying no attention to their fires...which is very dangerous"
Preamble to Governor Peter Stuyvesant's 1648 Ordinance

European settlement on the island of Manhattan began with a blaze in 1613 when a Dutch ship caught on fire and stranded its crew on what was to become New York City. The settlement, then called New Amsterdam, grew in a haphazard way. Order improved under Peter Stuyvesant, who passed the first fire ordinances in 1648. Restrictions were placed on building materials and locations. Fines were levied for dirty and dangerous chimneys. Building fires, no matter how they began, resulted in larger fines. Fire wardens were appointed to inspect the chimneys; the money collected from fines went towards the buckets, hooks, and ladders that were the fire fighting equipment of the day.

In 1658, the city established its first fire company, the "prowlers" or the "rattle-watch". They would take turns patrolling the streets, sun down to sun up, watching for any signs of fire. Upon spotting a fire, they would create a loud racket by swinging their rattles, and run for the buckets. Everyone was expected to come out and help. The British maintained the fire regulations of the Dutch when they took over in 1664 and renamed the city New York.. Buckets remained the sole means of getting water on a fire until 1731.