Why are Dalmatians considered firehouse dogs?
Dogs were helpful to direct and guard horses during the era of the horse drawn fire engine. Dalmations were favored probably because of their size, friendly nature, ability to train, and ability to care for themselves. Likewise urban and nearby departments gave away puppies as new litters were born thus creating a fire service tradition.
Dalmatians have shared the barns and the hunt courses with horses for centuries, so when fire-apparatus was horse-drawn, nearly every firehouse had its resident Dalmatian to help direct the horses, keep the horses company, and guard the firehouse. The horses are gone from fire stations today, but the Dalmatians aren t! Firehouse dogs nearly always were called Sparky, so Sparky was the obvious name for NFPA s fire prevention symbol.
Dalmatians have shared the barns and the hunt courses with horses for centuries, so when fire-apparatus was horse-drawn, nearly every firehouse had its resident dalmatian to help direct the horses, keep the horses company, and guard the firehouse.The horses are gone from fire today, but the Dalmatians aren’t! Firehouse dogs nearly always were called “Sparky” so this name was the obvious choice for NFPA’s fire prevention mascot, Sparky the Fire Dog ®.
In the early days of the fire service, fire trucks were horse drawn. In those days nearly every firehouse had a resident Dalmatian. The job of the Dalmatian was to direct the horses, keep the horses company and guard the firehouse. Today we do not keep horses in the fire station, but many firehouses still have a Dalmatian. The resident Dalmatian is still responsible for guarding the firehouse and the fire trucks. Why is the Maltese Cross the symbol of the fire service? The Maltese Cross represents the ideals of saving lives and extinguishing fires. The emblem was borrowed from the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The knights were an organization that existed in the 11th and 12th centuries that helped the poor and the sick. The Knights of St. John later assisted the Knights of the Crusades in a relief effort to the Island of Malta, the island for which the Maltese Cross was named. The Maltese Cross came to represent the principles of charity, loyalty, chivalry, generosity to friend or
