2。3 THE GREAT FIRE OF WHITSTABLE 13

2。4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF STEAMER PUMP 14

3 The reason that steam engine pump was not initially accepted by the market 16

3。1 LABOR COSTS 16

3。2 MAINSTREAM VIEWPOINTS ON STEAMER FIREFIGHTING 19

3。2。1 The firefighting management system 19

3。2。2 The concept of major fire chief 21

3。3 PROBLEMS IN WATER SUPPLY 22

3。3。1 Low hydraulic head 22

3。3。2 Insufficient water supply 23

3。4 LACKING THEORY FOR IMPROVEMENTS 26

3。5 PULSATORY DEMAND AS A RESULT OF CLIMATE PULSATIONS 28

3。6 FINANCIAL SUPPORT 30

3。7 CONCLUSION 30

4 The reason why steamer pump was phased out in 1920s 31

4。1 THE INVENTION OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 31

4。2 DEFECTS IN PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS 33

4。2。1 Self-propelled 34

4。2。2 Slow speed of the generation of steam 35

4。3 CONCLUSION 36

5 Heritage left by steamer pumps 38

6 Conclusion 40

Acknowledgement 42

参考文献 43

1 Introduction

In 1666, a fire broke out in London, England, and burned for four days。 The fire swept away 1,300 houses, including the famous St。 Paul's Cathedral, and some medieval buildings。 From this fire, the public began to pay attention to the city's firefighting work。 Soon, the British inherited and improved the hand fire engines, and used water hose to put out fires。("世界消防车漫谈," 2005) James Watt invented the steam engine in 1770 which led the first industrial revolution。 John Ericsson, the Swedish engineer assembled the first steamer for firefighting in 1828 and the engine was dragged by horses。 Figure 1。1shows the first steam fire engine which was located in Salem, New York City and pulled by horses。 However, Ericsson’s idea was not accepted by the market。 After 5 engines assembled, he discontinued the fire engine business and moved back to Sweden。 It was not until 1852-1853 that a British immigrant, Alexander Bonner Latta assembled another more advanced steam fire engine, which was put into use in Cincinnati in January 1853。 This fire engine weighs 997kg, pulled by four horses。(李炳泉, 1994)