For at least two millennia, permanent organizations of trained individuals dedicated to the dangerous and heroic task of fighting fire have been safeguarding populations and rescuing countless lives. As far back as the 1st century, ancientRome operated a full-time fire department boasting some 7,000 trained and paid firefighters. In addition to putting out fires, these brigades acted as "fire police," patrolling the city streets and enforcing fire-prevention codes with corporal punishment. Yet it would be many more centuries before firefighters had adequate equipment to do the job. Almost inconceivably, the only fire-fighting means available during the great London fire of 1666 were hand-operated syringes holding a mere two quarts of water each. The first fire engines were supplied with water by reservoirs kept full by a bucket brigade, the hand-operated piston pumps were moved to the scene by man- or horsepower. These early pumps were quite dangerous to use because the short range of the water stream required that the operators stand extremely close to the fire. In the 19th century, the steam-poweredpump made its debut in large European and American cities. Although the internal-combustion engine eventually replaced the steam engine in the early 20th century. Constructed mostly from cast iron the antique toy fire engine featured on this stamp -- a fiery red steam "pumper" manned by two brave firefighters -- is from the collection of the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York.
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