First Fire Engine Tested: 1853

A little Fire Apparatus History.
The first pump designed for fire fighting may have been created by Ctesibius of Alexandria around the second century BC. The technology was subsequently lost, when Alexandria burned, and reinvented in Europe during the 1500's.

Thomas Lote built the first fire engine made in America in 1743, although some hand pump units were imported from Europe prior to that time.

John Ericsson is credited with building the first steam powered fire engine.

The first self propelled steam engine (pumper) was built in New York in 1841. It was the target of sabotage and scorned by fire fighters and it's use was discontinued. Self propelled (motorized) fire apparatus did not gain acceptance until after 1900.

In 1853, Alexander Bonner Latta invented the first practical fire engine, a "steam" engine. Built and tested in Cincinnati, Ohio, it's main feature was a boiler made of two square chambers: the inner fire box and the outer one for water and steam. That same year, Cincinnati became the first American city to replace volunteers with the horse-drawn steam fire engine and to form a paid fire department.