Web Resources
- Digital Public LibraryA search for "fire department history" returns many interesting images and texts.
- History of the Chicago Fire DepartmentThis is a pdf detailing the rich history of the Chicago Fire Department.
About this page
Use this page to help find resources to aid your research into the history of specific fire departments across the U.S.
Titles from the IFSI Library
Click on any title to link to our catalog, where you can request an item. For items that are not linked, please contact our library directly at 217-333-8925.
Boston on Fire by Call Number: TH9505 .B7S34 2003ISBN: 1933212012Publication Date: 2006-01-30A comprehensive history of Boston's major fires as well as key Boston firefighting innovations.
Chicago Fire Department 1858-2008 by Call Number: TH9505.C4 .C45 2008ISBN: 1934729051Publication Date: 2008-01-01Examines the history of the Chicago Fire Department, including details regarding major Chicago fires.
Dancing with the Devil by Call Number: TH9505 .E52 2015ISBN: 9781329086791Publication Date: 2015-09-04Dancing with the Devil is a collection of stories from the history of the Streator Fire Department. Streator, Illinois is a medium sized community in North-Central Illinois. The history of the fire department goes back to the 1880's. Dancing with the Devil is a collection of short stories describing the conflagrations and disasters, the highs and the lows that faced Streator Firefighters through the last 130 years. This collection tells many stories that have not even been told. Some incidents include the death of two firefighters while battling a fire at the Kennedy Truck Body plant, the explosion and fire at the Williams Hardware building, an oil refinery inferno, a powder explosion at Old Coal Mine No. 2, the destruction of the Heenan building, and many other short stories.
The Firefighter's Best Friend by Call Number: TH9505.C4071 .O77 2003ISBN: 1893121208Publication Date: 2003-08-01
Hands, Horses and Engines by Call Number: TH9505 .B2 1982ISBN: 9780960895205Publication Date: 1982-10-01Covers the history of the Baltimore Fire Department, including line of duty deaths and major Baltimore fires.
Our Firemen by Call Number: TH9505 .N5C87 1997ISBN: 1577150139Publication Date: 1997-03-01Includes biographical portraits of the most famous New York firemen, an illustrated history of the old hand engine of the past and the steam engine of the present, and major fires in New York history
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