History of firefighting
The history of organized firefighting began in ancient Rome while under the rule of the first Roman Emperor Augustus. Prior to that, Ctesibius, a Greek citizen of Alexandria, developed the first fire pump in the third century BC, which was later improved upon in a design by Hero of Alexandria in the first century BC. == Ancient Rome == Roman Emperor Augustus formed a group of slaves, Vigiles, in AD 6 to combat fires using bucket brigades and pumps, as well as poles, hooks and even ballistae to tear down buildings in advance of the flames.