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The Daily Insight Hub

Who organized the Union Volunteer Fire Company?

Author

Andrew Campbell

Updated on January 12, 2026

Franklin
One of the city’s most central and successful public figures from a very young age, Franklin cofounded the Union Fire Company, an all-volunteer brigade, in 1736.

Who organized the first volunteer fire company in Philadelphia?

His name was Benjamin Franklin. The first volunteer fire department began in Philadelphia in 1736. Ben Franklin moved to Philadelphia from Boston at the age of eighteen.

Why did Benjamin Franklin create the fire department?

The fire company was formed on 7 December 1736 after a series of publications in the Pennsylvania Gazette by Franklin and others pointing out the need for more effective handling of fires in Philadelphia and remained active until approximately 1820.

Who was the first Union fire department?

Under Franklin’s goading, a group of thirty men came together to form the Union Fire Company on December 7, 1736.

Who started the first fire company?

After The Great Fire, the first fire insurance company called the, “The Fire Office”, was established in 1667 by Nicholas Barbon. His Fire Brigade employed small teams of Thames watermen as firefighters. Other similar companies soon followed his lead and this was how property was protected until the early 1800s.

Who is the father of the American fire service?

Benjamin Franklin
No other painting captures Benjamin Franklin, the father of the fire service, in such detail.

What material was used for the first fire hose?

leather
Fire-hoses were first invented in Holland in the late 1600s. They were made from hundreds of strips of leather stitched together into long tubes. These were heavy and unwieldy, but better than the bucket brigades that preceded them.

Who was the first fire chief?

The first organised municipal fire brigade in the world was established in Edinburgh, Scotland, when the Edinburgh Fire Engine Establishment was formed in 1824, led by James Braidwood. The London Fire Engine Establishment, formed in 1833 with James Braidwood as the first Fire Chief.

Is FDNY in the IAFF?

The FDNY headquarters is located at 9 MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn, and the FDNY Fire Academy is located on Randalls Island. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) locals are 94 and 854.

Who was the first firefighter in the world?

On January 27, 1678 the first fire engine company went into service with its captain (foreman) Thomas Atkins. In 1736, Benjamin Franklin established the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia. The United States did not have government-run fire departments until around the time of the American Civil War.

What is a double jacket fire hose?

The double jacket hose has an extra layer (“jacket”) of woven fabric that boasts a higher wearability in comparison to the single jacket hose. It has an impressive burst test of 1,200 PSI and a 400 PSI service test. In comparison, a single jacket fire hose is burst tested to 900 PSI.

Why is it called FDNY and not NYFD?

Tammany Hall would get its revenge fifteen years later under the Tweed Charter (named after Tammany’s “Boss” Tweed), which returned control of the NYC Fire Department to New York City’s government. That charter created the FDNY, using that rearranged acronym, since they couldn’t repeat the older volunteer-era “NYFD.”

What do fire chiefs make?

Earnings. The mean wage for a fire chief nationally is $82,010 per year. That equates to an hourly wage of $39.43, as of May 2019, as stated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bureau also indicates that fire chiefs in the lowest percentile earn $43,150 annually, while those in the top percentile earn $126,720.