Fireman (brandweerman)

For centuries the only equipment used to fight a fire were leather buckets, hooks, ropes and ladders. The buckets of water had to be handed over by two rows of people and by the time a bucket reached the fire, it was almost empty. If extinguishing with buckets of water failed the houses were pulled down with the ropes and hooks, in later years fire blankets were introduced to protect the adjoining properties.

In about 1650 the first fire pump was used, an invention of German citizen of Neurenberg, called Hans Hautsch. The principle of this machine was like the simple plant spray we still use. Pushing the piston down meant spraying water, but the jet of water stopped if it was pulling up again. This pump had to be transported by horsepower and pumping was a hard and dangerous job, because the men at the pumps had to stand close to the fire. Apart from that aspect, the copper water container, in which this pump was installed, had to be filled with buckets and like in the old days, most buckets were empty by the time they reached the machine. In 1672 Jan van der Heijden did some inventions, which were a big improvement, he invented the leather fire-hose, so the machine could be positioned near the canal and only a few men were needed to fill the water container. The second advantage of using the fire-hose was, that the firemen could go to the seat of the fire, instead of wait till the flames reached the street. He also improved the fire pump and in 1698 he even invented a suction pump, which could suck the water out of the canals.

>Choose from the following ancient occupations

Baker | Beachcomber | Beguine | Candlemaker | Dumpman | Executioner | Fanmaker | Fireman | Gravedigger | Innkeeper | Laundrywoman | Nightwatch | Peddlar | Porter | Seat Caretaker | Ship Shanghai | Soapmaker | Streetpaver | Tolltaker | Pharmacist