Jason E. Andersen

We’ll take a break from all the nature and do a bit of firefighting history today. Firefighting has a long and storied history, so I’ve been told. Certainly, even long before humanity had first harnessed fire, there were folks trying to put it out. I went down a rabbit hole of firefighting history this week and came out with a few good nuggets.

Bonus Fun Fact: A guy by the name of Marcus Licinius Crassus is credited with being the first to create fire brigades in ancient Rome. His men would patrol the streets looking for signs of fire and respond quickly with water buckets in hand. When at the scene, Crassus would offer to buy the burning building from the panicked owner at an extremely low price. I’m sure there’s a fire sale joke in here somewhere.

If the owner sold the property, Crassus would have his men put the fire out. If not, he would let the structure burn to the ground. He would then try to buy the adjacent properties, which were obviously of lower value now that they were next to a burned out husk. He would also have his men renovate said properties and sell them at a tremendous profit. In this way, he became a very rich man. Did I also mention his men were slaves? What a great guy!

It wasn’t for another 100 years that the Romans would organize what would eventually become modern-day firefighting. The Roman Emperor Nero devoted soldiers to serve as both a police force and firefighters that would show up and actually put the fire out for the good of the citizenry. 

One of these early Roman firefighters was a soldier named Florian, who you may know as Saint Florian. Florian was a military commander who worked to organize soldiers into an elite brigade solely dedicated to firefighting. He was later honored by being named the patron saint of chimney sweeps, soapmakers, and firefighters.

Bonus Bonus Fun Fact: The four-way cross that serves as the logo background for many modern fire departments is called a Florian Cross (for obvious reasons, I hope). It is often misnamed, with people calling it a Maltese Cross. The Maltese Cross is something very different and is a symbol of a group of knights that went on one of the crusades. If someone refers to a Florian Cross as a Maltese Cross, they are wrong and should be slapped in the mouth. Be sure to correct them and inform them it’s a Florian Cross, named after the patron saint of firefighters, Saint Florian. Slap them in the mouth again for good measure. Give credit where credit is due!