Changes

Technical and social changes for much of the Medieval period were limited in relation to firefighting. This meant that the concept of using watchmen who would respond and call other watchmen or volunteers to then respond to the fire largely persisted in the towns and cities of Europe and other regions. Pumps and wagons were sometimes used, but technically these were not much different from ancient periods. Most of these watches were locally administered by neighborhoods or districts in cities. However, in the 16th century, with the increasingly increasing population of cities such as Paris, we begin to see more centralized watchmen who were responsible to the king and central authorities directly.<ref>For more on watchmen, see: Johnston, R. A. (2011). All things medieval: an encyclopedia of the medieval world. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood, pg. 449.</ref>

The Great London Fire of 1666 (Figure 1) began to change how fire was perceived. Insurance companies soon began to cover and insure buildings, which gave them interest in protecting those buildings. These insurance companies in London began to organize their own fire brigades, although these firefighters were mostly interested in protecting buildings they insured. The This led to public markers that indicated which buildings were insured by given companies. However, this system was chaotic and buildings would only be saved by specific insurance companies, leaving others to burn. The insurance companies also realized that it was in their interest to put out fires in buildings they did not insure, as that could then help to save buildings they did insure. With London's population growing rapidly in the 18th and early 19th centuries, fires became a major problem for the city as they threatened the destruction of the large city. By around 1700, new pumps were developed in France that did help firefighting across urban places such as Paris (Figure 2).<ref>For more on the Great London Fire and development of firefighting in the 17th and 18th centuries, see: Gogerly, L., & Harley, D. (2003). The Great Fire of London. London: Hodder Wayland.</ref>

Napoleon may have been the first ruler to develop a public fire brigade that was funded by the state. The first professional firefighters appeared to have been former military personneland they served as the first full time employees in firefighting. The city of Cincinnati , Ohio in 1853 was the first city in the United Stated to developed the first public funded fire department. In the United States, similar to Britain and other European countries, firefighting was largely privatized and controlled by insurance companies.The London Fire Engine was established in 1833, reflecting the need to centralize firefighting across an increasingly expanding city. However, this was nothing more than a fire department for insurance company companies that was were only minimally financed by the insurers, where 13 stations serviced the entire city of London. It took the 1865 the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act to finally create a formal fire department in the city that was funded with public money, creating the first official public fire department for the city.<ref>For more on firefighting in the 19th century, see: Green-Hughes, E. (1979). A history of firefighting. Ashbourne [Eng.]: Moorland Pub.</ref>