On April 10, 1845, Pittsburgh's volunteer firefighters had an abundance of spirit. But as fire companies, they were unprepared to face the most disastrous fire in the city's history.
Despite their failings, the city nonetheless paid them tribute for saving several notable buildings and slowing fire spread on the flank running parallel to the Allegheny River.
America in the early decades of the 1800s was in a period of rapid industrialization. While cities grew increasingly more combustible fueling the public's inherent fear of conflagration, there was as yet no sustained call to replace the volunteers.
It took changes in the demographics of volunteer membership and the introduction of steam fire engines to push the transformation that led to professionalism.
By mid-century Pittsburgh's volunteer companies, as in other cities, were places of male culture tinged with aggression, competitiveness, a sense of patriotism, and connection to neighborhood.