
At that time its inspectorate duties were transferred to the Department of Licenses and Inspections. The City Charter of 1951 abolished the Department of Public Safety and established the present Fire Department. In 1950 it was transferred to the Bureau of Fire. The Fire Marshal, first appointed on 1864, was a member of the Bureau of Police until 1937 when his office was removed from it and placed directly under the Director of the Department of Public Safety. In 1887 the commissioners were abolished and the department placed under the control of the Department of Public Safety as the Bureau of Fire in compliance with the 1885 Bullitt Bill and enabling ordinance of 1886. The PFD officially entered into service on 15 March 1871. Ordinances of 1840, 1855, and 1856 established a City Fire Department which was a voluntary association of independent fire companies which, in return for subsidies, accepted the direction of City Councils.Īn ordinance of 29 December 1870, established Philadelphia's first fully paid and municipally controlled fire department, administered by seven commissioners chosen by Councils.

One of the oldest established fire departments in the United States, the PFD traces its origins back to early volunteer companies, specifically the Union Fire Company, established on December 7, 1736.

