What is the tour for today mainly about?

Many of the innovations in fire fighting that we will be seeing today were developed right here in America. As you can see from these photos, one of the earliest steam powered fire engines, the Joe Ross, was built in 1850 and operated right here in Cincinnati. Driven by four large horses, the ten-ton machine was steered by a single front wheel that was attached directly to the horse team. The steam motor on the Joe Ross was used to power the water pump that the big machine used to fight fires. Over here, we have an actual truck which was built in 1900 by the Waterous Fire Engine Works of Minneapolis. This was the very first fire engine to utilize a single steam motor for pulling the engine as well as pumping the water. As you may notice at the top of the truck, there is a circular platform that holds one end of a long ladder; the revolving platform operates almost like a record turntable in order to make it easier for ladder-operators to access buildings from difficult angles. The idea of the ladder turntable is credited to a San Francisco fireman by the name of Daniel Hayes. Hayes’ lifesaving invention, when combined with the relatively quick response time of the single engine, helped to bring fire fighting into the modern era.