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| Volunteer OpportunitiesAre you a resident of the Spicewood area interested in volunteering a few hours a month in support of your community? If so, the Spicewood Volunteer Fire and Emergency Service Departments are looking for you. You do not need to be interested in fire fighting or medicine to help. That's right, we need volunteers in many different areas of our department. If you have a desire to help, we can find a place for you. Examples include: office and computer support, building and equipment maintenance, special event planning, and public relations. Of course, we are also looking for firefighters and medical personnel. HISTORY OF VOLUNTEER DEPARTMENTSVolunteer fire departments have been around for a long time. Where did they originate and who started them you ask? The man who established the first volunteer fire department also invented bifocals, wrote and printed "Poor Richards Almanac", studied electricity, and help draft the Declaration of Independence. His name was Benjamin Franklin.
In 1711, another major fire occurred in Boston - 110 families lost their homes. At the age of six Benjamin Franklin witnessed this fire. Concerned citizens banded together and formed the Mutual Fire Societies in 1711. When fire struck a member of the Mutual Fire Societies, other members of the club would rush to help battle the blaze. Each society had approximately twenty members. Dennis Smith stated the following: "The Mutual Fire Societies became social as well as protective associations, setting a pattern for organized volunteer firefighting groups, which would one day be the backbone of firefighting in American and would dominate it for a century and a half." In 1682, the city of Philadelphia was founded by William Penn. When determining where to locate the city Penn gave careful thought to the dangers of fire. He had witnessed the London fire in 1666 and did not want Philadelphia to suffer the same fate. To reduce the possibility of fire, a fire ordinance in Philadelphia in 1696 required chimney cleaning. Philadelphia also had a large number of brick buildings that made it less susceptible to fire.
In 1733, Ben Franklin often wrote about the dangers of fire and the need for organized fire protection in his newspaper "The Pennsylvania Gazette. Ben Franklin was familiar with Boston's Mutual Fire Societies which were also known as "Fire Clubs." But the "Fire Clubs" existed for the protection of its members only, not the community at large. Collins wrote that Ben Franklin wanted organizations that would battle fires, regardless of whose property was burning. After an extensive fire in Philadelphia in 1736, Franklin created a fire brigade called The Union Fire Company" with 30 volunteers. The first full-fledged volunteer firefighter in America was Isaac Pasehall. The idea of volunteer fire brigades quickly gained popularity. Not wanting more than 30-40 men per company, additional companies were formed. Some of them were: The Fellowship, Hand-in-Hand and Heart-in-Heart, and Friendship Companies. Each of the companies paid for their own equipment and located themselves throughout the town at strategic locations. Most early fire companies in Philadelphia and other cities had professionals, wealthier merchants and trades people serving in the volunteer fire department. These citizens were able to afford to purchase equipment and pay fines for missing meetings and fires. Some famous Americans who served as volunteers were: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, John Barry, Aaron Burr, Benedict Arnold, James Buchanan and Millard Fillmore.
The most famous American woman firefighter was probably Lillie Hitchcock, a resident of San Francisco. She worked with Knickbocker Engine Company #5 beginning in 1851. According to Frederick J. Bowlen's account, one day on the way to a fire there were not enough men to pull the engine, not only that but when Knickerbocker Company's engine was passed by the Manhatton #2 and Howard #3 engines on the way to the fire, the men received humiliating remarks from the other firefighters.
Before 1850, no city in the United States had a fully paid, full-time firefighter, and volunteer firefighters played and continue to play an invaluable role in protecting lives and property across America.
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The first volunteer fire department began in Philadelphia in 1736. Ben Franklin moved to Philadelphia from Boston at the age of eighteen Boston had been greatly affected by fire. The city of Boston experienced major fires in 1653 and 1676, and after the fire in 1676, Boston purchased a London Pumper. The city then hired Thomas Atkins and twelve other men to fight fires. These were the first PAID firefighters in the United States.
In 1718, Philadelphia bought its first engine. It was named The Shag Rag, but it was not put into service until 1730 when Philadelphia had a fire that destroyed much of the commercial district along the river. The Shag Rag was no match for the conflagration because it only produced a trickle of water. In the twelve years the city owned it no one had maintained it! Ben Franklin urged the city to get better organized to fight fires. Shortly thereafter the city bought four hundred fire buckets, twenty ladders and hooks, and two additional engines.
In 1818, women began to volunteer as firefighters. The first recorded female volunteer was Molly Williams, a black slave who belonged to a New York merchant, an was sometimes referred to as Volunteer #11. Molly fought fires wearing a calico dress and checked apron. During a blizzard in 1818 she helped drag the engine to the scene of a fire. In 1820, Marina Betts served as volunteer in Pittsburgh and claimed she never missed an alarm during her 10 years as a firefighter. It was stated that "Betts became famous for dumping buckets of water over male bystanders who refused to help fight fires." 
Fifteen year-old Lillie saw their plight and dashed to the vacant spot on the rope pulling it with all her might she shouted to the bystanders, "Come on you men! Everybody pull and we will beat them!" This teenage socialite began attending fires and the company gave her an honorary membership. Even after her marriage to Howard Coit, she was still interested in firefighting As time passed she no longer followed the engine to fires but visited many an injured firefighter and sent flowers when firemen died in the line of duty. Her estate provided funds to build a monument to honor volunteer firefighters.