1841 - First American steam fire engine, New York, used only a few months.
1845 - Philadelphia burns, 900 buildings.
1847-1854 - 1.6M Irish immigrate following famine, many take to firefighting.
1840s-1850s - First facilities for hanging hose in fire stations.
1848 - Albany burns, 600 buildings.
1849 - St. Louis burns, 430 buildings and 23 steamboats.
1851 - Cincinnati suffers major fire while volunteer firefighters riot. City commissions building of steam engine and organizes salaried department.
1851 - Buffalo, NY burns. 200 buildings.
1851 - Philly burns. 400 buildings.
1852 - First fire box alarm, Boston.
1853 - Cincinnati becomes first fully-paid fire department.
1853 - Cincinnati tests first successful American steam engine.
1857 - Louisville KY and then St. Louis MO become second and third fully-paid fire departments.
1863 - Fire extinguisher patented.
1864 - Chemical fire engine invented, France.
1865 - New York forms fully-paid FD.
1868 - First successful aerial ladder invented by Daniel Hayes, San Francisco.
1870 - Rubber, cotton-covered hose developed.
1870 or so - Red brick architecture begins to dominate municipal buildings.
1870 or so - Isolated residential districts are rare before this time.
1871 - Philadelphia forms fully-paid fire department.
1871 - Quick horse hitch likely invented, Saint Joseph, MO. ok but not Hanging I am guessing
1871 - Great Chicago Fire.
1872 - Automatic sprinkler patented, Abington, MA.
1873 - Hanging horse harness invented, Cambridge, MA. see above
1873 - First iron-hull fire boat, Boston.
1873 - International Association of Fire Engineers holds first convention and adopts standard hose coupling size.
1876 (or 1879) - First water tower developed, consisting of 50-foot mast sections assembled at scene and raised by cranks and gears.
1878 - First fire pole, Chicago, IL. <==Wooden
1878 - Seamless cotton hose appears by this time. The hose is also capable of being packed flat, unlike rubber hose which required rolling on a reel. Hose wagons are developed to transport the new hose.
1880 - First brass fire pole, Worchester, MA. <== Brass
1882 - Pompier/scaling ladder patented, St. Louis. <== questionable....
1901 (or 1902) - Spring-raise aerial ladder invented by Seagrave, Columbus, OH. <== Not the first no Hayes'
1903 - Iroquois Theater burns, Chicago, spurs new fire inspection laws.
1906 - San Francisco earthquake and fire.