A fireman's pole (also called a firefighter's pole, sliding pole or a fire pole) is a pole that firefighters slide down to quickly reach the ground floor of a fire station. This allows them to respond to an emergency call faster, as they arrive at the fire engine faster than by using a standard staircase.
In the 1870s, answering an alarm, Chicago fireman George Reid decided to use the long-pole the company employed to lift horse's hay from the upper-loft to slide to the ground floor, arriving well ahead of the rest of the company. Company Captain David Kenyon of Engine Company 21 then successfully petitioned the department be allowed to install a pole through the floor of the loft sleeping space to create what became the standard set-up.[1]
- ^ Grossman, Ron (February 24, 2022). "In response to White Chicagoans mocking the first Black fire crew in 1872, they wanted to prove themselves as good, if not better". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 24, 2022.