Fire Service History

If there were one thing that you could change about the fire service, what would it be? Why is that important? (This could be something philosophical, structural, technical, or futuristic.)

Preserving the history of the fire service would be the one thing I would like to see better remembered by firefighters in the fire service. Many of our personnel come to the fire service looking for employment and nothing more. The fire service is considerable more than a nine to five, five days a week job. There are many underlying traditions, philosophies and history that have made the fire service what it is currently. Our hardships and triumphs throughout history need to be instilled into our new personnel so that they would have a better appreciation of how the fire service has grown and developed into what it is today compared to years or even decades ago. …show more content…
Take the Maltese Cross, we all know that it represents the fire service, but how many of us know why? If asked how many would be able to recognize that it comes from the “Knights of Malta”, or that it the New York Fire Department adopted the Maltese cross? Would they know that the first firefighters came from the holy wars and that during the battle the Saracens would throw flaming torches to catch the knights on fire? After they caught fire, their brave brothers would attempt to save them from a fiery death by trying to put the flames out. Afterwards for their bravery they would be awarded a medal that resembles the Maltese cross of today. The knights were from Malta, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, and from this the cross became the known as the Maltese