Electric fire engine

The electric fire engine was a proposed fire engine to replace the steam fire engines used for putting out fires in the nineteenth century. The fire engine water pump for distribution of water to extinguish the fire would be operated by an electric motor instead of steam. It touted many advantages over the steam fire engine that included simplicity, cleaner, faster in operation, cost savings, and low maintenance. Modern battery operated models exist.

The electric fire engine, when conceived in the nineteenth century, was proposed to replace the steam fire engine used at the time. It was to be constructed in such a way that it used a supply of electrical power that came from some central station whereby electricity could be distributed to various covered districts and city supply points. It would have to be some underground or overhead wiring similar to that used for electric light and power purposes of the time like for trolleys. It was thought that the wiring could supply electricity to various outlet posts at strategic places throughout a city or fire protected district. These outlets would supply the necessary current to the electric motor of the fire-engine. The vehicle itself was to be hauled by horses and would consist of a carriage wagon with a electric motor-powered water pump permanently mounted atop. There would be cables from the motor that would connected to the outlet post for its supply of current.

The electric fire engine would have several advantages over the steam fire engine. One was that an electric fire engine could be brought to full power immediately, whereas a steam fire engine took time. It was necessary to keep a steam boiler on a steam pump vehicle going all the time with workmen furnishing coal for it to keep a fire going to boil the water. This was necessary so that not much time was lost in getting it up to the correct temperature to produce steam to run the water pump. It was necessary to get the water pump going quickly to extinguish the fire. In the case of an electric motor running a fire engine water pump, it was basically instantaneous since the motor was running at full power capacity when the switch was turned on. The advantage of using electricity was its lower cost overall (i.e. no coal or extensive maintenance) and simplicity of operation. A steam boiler had to be maintained by men and fired all the time to keep the steam available to run the water pump so that little time was lost when an alarm was sounded – an expensive operation. There would be no waiting time to get the electric pumping engine going, since it would be at full capacity once it was connected and the switch turned on. A steam engine took some time to raise it to the pressure needed to run the water pump.

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Wikipedia