Merry Christmas from STATter 911. Enjoy the day with some historic firefighting films.

Here at STATter 911 we decided to provide more of a holiday gift than just that lame critique of two, somewhat inept fire departments. Below, some of the earliest films to record the actions of some real firemen.

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Life of an American Fireman, 1903. Read about this film, here and some details about the firemen in the production, here. Director Edwin S. Porter and Edison Films (yes, that Edison) enlisted “the services of the fire departments of four different cities, New York, Newark, Orange, and East Orange, N.J., and about 300 firemen appear in the various scenes of this film”. You may particularly like the high speed, horse drawn, layout and the close-up of the fire alarm box.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu-uIGcwFJY&rel=1]

Buffalo Fire Department in Action. An even older film, from July 31, 1897. Also from Edison. Read more.

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Annual parade, New York Fire Department. Another Edison/Porter film of the May 17, 1904 parade. Read about the film.

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Pawtucket Fire Department. From the same era, a response by the Pawtucket, Rhode Island Fire Department on December 5, 1903. Read more about the film.