Hi folks:I've been doing some research recently on forest fires, particularly in southern New England. I'm trying to find around when portable, gasoline powered pumps became practical -- I have no clue at this point what names, etc to look for though. Any guidance in a direction would be much appreciated! To share some interesting things I've found: -- In 1910, Connecticut's average size fire was 50 acres and 15,000 acres burned in a typical year (today it's under a 1/4 acre and less then a 1,000). -- In 1910 the State Fire Warden's Manual still relied heavily on "improvised firefighting devices," recommending things like wet sacks and cedar boughs. The only specialized equipment was a 2.5 gallon soda-acid extinguisher you towns could buy from the state. -- In 1922 the Smith Indian Back Pump was introduced, and the Council Fire Rake (the ones with the sickle mower teeth) was introduced right about the same time. -- By 1935 New York State had 84 portable, gasoline powered pumps in service. -- In the 1930s the CCC was building fire ponds in Connecticut ideal for portable pumps to work from. -- 1945 saw the introduction of flatfender Power Wagons, which were the first widely adopted 4x4s to aggressively take the water to the fire. It's notable in pictures of many of the foresty trucks I've found in the 20s/30s...they had *huge* hose reels -- many look like 500' to 1000'. Of course there was many other technical improvements -- fire towers, telephones, radios, airplanes. I'm just trying to piece it all together.
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