This CD contains the page images and searchable text from three 19th Century books describing the history, design, and operation of steam fire engines:

History of the American Steam Fire Engine.

by
William T. King (1896)

This 150-page illustrated history of steam fire engines in America describes the engines produced by over 80 engine developers and manufacturing companies. Illustrations include over 100 drawings and half-tone photos of different fire engines, and of key and innovative components. The book was written in 1896, after nearly 70 years of steam fire engine development and many decades of bitter struggle with volunteer firemen over its acceptance. By 1896, the steamer was proven technology and was adopted as the essential fire-fighting apparatus.


Hand-book of Modern Steam Fire-engines,
...including the running, care and management of steam fire-engines and fire-pumps.

by
Stephen Roper (1889)

As the title indicates, Roper's book is a manual for operators of steam fire engines. Its 400 pages include general guidance on fire-fighting, and descriptions of many fire engines and pumps available in 1889. Roper produced a dozen steam engine handbooks, serving the full range of operators: stationary, marine, fire, and locomotive. As with his other guides, this one includes thorough discussions of the theory and mechanics of steam engineering for the practitioner, from the basics of hydraulics and steam generation, through a review of engine and pump components, to instruction on safe and efficient engine use. Sandwiched between technical sections are the descriptions of twenty fire engines and fire pumps by various makers. This book complements King's history by providing in-depth answers to questions on steam fire engine design and operation, and includes many illustrations of engines and equipment.

Excerpts from:
Fires, Fire Engines, and Fire Brigades.
...with a history of manual and steam fire engines, their construction, use, and management; remarks on fire-proof buildings ...statistics of the fire appliances in English towns; foreign fire systems; hints for the formation of, and rules for, fire brigades; and an account of American steam fire engines.

by
Charles Frederick T. Young (1866)

By the mid-Nineteenth Century, steam fire engines had gained insurer, public, and local government support in Britain and finally were adopted over the resistance of the volunteer fire brigades. This early history of fire protection services in Britain includes an illustrated account of the development of manual and steam fire engines. There are illustrations and descriptions of mobile fire-fighting apparatus from the Roman times through the 1860s. Also included is a short discussion of the state of steam fire engine technology in America.
[Note: This CD includes about half of the text of the 500-page book. Not included on this CD are the chapters on the British fire brigades, fire-protection establishments, programs, and building codes, and the chapters on the competitive testing of manual and steam engines.]