According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term fire engine was first used in the 17th century, in exactly the same sense it has now, "a machine for throwing water to extinguish fires".
Firefighters are assigned to engine companies or ladder companies, reflecting very different professional practices. There are also rescue companies with their own distinctive vehicles, including ambulances.
The ladder companies operate fire trucks, that is, fire vehicle that do not have pumps and are therefore not fire engines. Often fire trucks are equipped with long ladders, hydraulic platforms and a variety of other emergency equipment and supplies. The hook-and-ladder is the best-known form of fire truck, but there are also snorkel, or cherry-picker, rigs, floodlight trucks and other specialized units.
Fire trucks and fire engines and other rigs are also used to carry firefighters to fires.
In some communities fire vehicles are used to carry paramedics to medical emergencies. This sometimes puzzles people who see a fire unit race past but do not see any fire.
On occasion, fire trucks have also been used as water cannons for crowd control.
Thomas Lote built the first fire engine made in America in 1743, although some hand pump units were imported from Europe prior to that time.
John Ericsson is credited with building the first steam powered fire engine.
Benjamin Franklin is often credited with the invention of the fire company, although Rome had professional fire fighters.
The first self propelled steam engine was built in New York in 1841. It was the target of sabotage by fire fighters and it's use was discontinued.
Brief History of Firefighting Equipment
Ctesibius of Alexandria is credited with inventing the first fire pump around the second century B.C. The fire pump was reinvented in Europe during the 1500s.