FIRE PATROLS

New York Fire Patrol vehicles

New York fire patrolman Keith Roma died at World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001  

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List of U.S. fire patrols in 1914

It was the end of an era.

The New York Fire Patrol - the last insurance industry salvage corps in the U.S. - disbanded on Oct. 15, 2006 after 167 years.

The patrol, funded by the New York Board of Fire Underwriters, was charged with protecting property and merchandise to limit insurance claims.

Their primary tool was the tarpaulin or salvage cover.

On the fire ground, patrol members wore bright red helmets.

According the New York City Fire Museum:

At fires, patrolmen worked alongside firefighters. Because they were civilians, patrolmen took orders from the FDNY commanding officer, who ensured it was safe for patrolmen to enter a burning building. Just like the FDNY, the NYFP had its own training school where patrolmen learned techniques of fire salvage, first aid, and forcible entry. Their main job was to protect contents on floors below a fire from being damaged by water used to extinguish fire on floors above. Some of the Patrol’s tools included tarpaulins, brooms, mops, sand, sawdust, and forcible entry tools. 

Through the years, New York's patrolmen - nicknamed "Patroleos" - were credited with saving lives at fires and providing valuable assistance to firefighters. 

At the 23rd Street fire that killed 12 New York firefighters on Oct. 17, 1966, patrolman Edward Pospicil played a key role in the search for the fallen members, drawing a map to where he last saw them operating. ``On the basis of the diagram, a wall was breached opposite from where the men were believed to be and the bodies were found very close to the spot indicated on the map," according to commandsafety.com

Thirty-two New York patrolmen died in the line of duty, the last being Keith M. Roma at the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

According to the New York Daily News:

``Keith Roma ended up in the lobby of Tower 1 that day, bringing people out to the courtyard and toward safety on Vesey St. He made three or four trips, said his boss, Fire Patrol Sgt. John Sheehan. On his final trip escorting Trade Center workers, Tower 2 collapsed. Debris rained down. Sheehan escaped. Keith Roma and the civilians didn't.''

His body was located on Christmas Eve - the 344th member of the New York fire service killed on 9/11.

Other cities fielded salvage corps, including the Chicago Fire Patrol, which made its debut a few days before the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 and performed valiantly under the command of its superintendent, Benjamin B. Bullwinkle, a veteran of the Chicago Fire Department.

In Philadelphia, the Fire Insurance Patrol was organized in 1869, according to the University of Pennsylvania, with its stated object, ``to protect and save property in or contiguous to burning buildings, and to remove and take charge of such property or any part thereof when necessary, supported by voluntary contributions from various fire insurance companies, and not possessing the means of making profits or declaring dividends, but exercising its functions equally in property whether insured or uninsured.''

Milwaukee's Fire Insurance Patrol, founded in 1886, was known as the ``Sack Company'' for its  role in salvaging and sacking goods.

Overseas, salvage corps serviced London and Liverpool in England and Glasgow, Scotland where a fire at a bonded whiskey warehouse on Cheapside Street claimed the lives of 19 members of the fire service on March 28, 196o - including five from the Glasgow Salvage Corps.

Mumbai in India also fielded a salvage corps.