BY GLENN CORBETT
The art of “throwing covers” to protect endangered property during a fire evolved over many years in America’s cities. New York City created the first fire patrol in the 1800s - red-helmeted firefighters whose mission was to prevent water and fire damage to goods in commercial structures. Financed by the insurance industry, fire patrols (also called salvage corps) were created in dozens of cities across America.
Tom Brennan, the late Fire Engineering editor and Fire Department of New York (FDNY) captain, told me many years ago that the city’s fire patrolmen experienced the same dangers as FDNY firefighters and “died just as easily in a collapse as firefighters.” At the World Trade Center on 9/11, along with the 343 FDNY members murdered that day, Fire Patrolman Keith Roma also died while evacuating civilians. He is the forgotten number 344.
If you are a current subscriber,login hereto access this content.
If you would like to become a subscriber, please visit ushere.
