Drill of the Kansas City Fire Department

Incredible scenes at Crystal Palace highlight cutting edge firefighting 1900 style

The boys of the Kansas City Fire Department demonstrate their rapid harnessing techniques in an impressive dash along the Italian Terrace at Crystal Palace, in this superior example of an early film staple. In record time, the horses are uncoupled from the engine and the boys follow up with a dramatic display of releasing the hoses. If only the boys had been there in 1936 when the Palace burned to the ground...

The 'fire brigade turn out' was a popular spectacle in the Victorian example, and survives in numerous films, with no doubt many more lost.