The New York State Library has one of the most extensive collections of historic resources on the individual fires, firefighters and firefighting equipment of New York State. The images below are just a small sampling of those in the Firefighter Collection, which includes photos and historic documents dating from the 1880s through 1930s.
The Albany Fire Protectives worked for the Albany Board of Underwriters, salvaging buildings and their contents following a fire.
Albany Fire Protectives in the street.
A rendering of the first fire engine manufactured in the U.S. (18th century) from "Ye Olde Fire Laddies" by Herbert Asbury, 1930.
An illustration from "Reminischences of the Old Fire laddies and Volunteer Fire Departments of New York and Brooklyn," 1885, by J. Frank Kernan.
An illustration of a fireman pulling a hose carriage from The Story of the Volunteer Fire Department of the City of New York, by George W. Sheldon. New York, Harper & Bros, 1882.