Union Fire Company

Union Fire Company, sometimes called Franklin's Bucket Brigade, was a volunteer fire department formed in Philadelphia in 1736 with the assistance of Benjamin Franklin.[1] It was the first firefighting organization in Philadelphia,[2] although it was followed within the year by establishment of the Fellowship Fire Company.[3] 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.[3] Although modeled after the Mutual Fire Societies of Franklin's native Boston, the Union Fire Company protected all members of the community rather than only the members of the company.[4]

Benjamin Franklin, the Fireman, ca 1850. Charles Washington Wright. Franklin is depicted in the fire helmet worn by the Union Fire Company.[5] The painting contains a significant anachronism. The fire helmet depicted was not invented until more than thirty years after Franklin's death.[6]
  1. ^ Chaplin, Joyce (2007). The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius. Basic Books. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-465-00956-5.
  2. ^ Burt, Nathaniel (1999). The Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-8122-1693-8.
  3. ^ a b Scharf and Westcott, 1889.
  4. ^ "Union Fire Company". Benjamin Franklin Historical Society. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  5. ^ "Citizen Ben". PBS. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  6. ^ "Fire Helmet". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2020-07-17.