Fire marks were an expression of the insurance industry’s history, tradition and longevity – a visual representation of an industry primarily documented through contracts and paperwork. ~ Dick Doyle, Fire Mark Historian
It was surprisingly difficult to locate a quote about fire marks. Should I have been surprised? No. I should have known my search would be akin to a snipe hunt, given that the general public has little to no knowledge of the topic. It may be willful ignorance, as people frequently lean into that mode for self-preservation when encountering insurance-related subjects. Nonetheless, I will carry on as though you are all desperate to learn more about these centuries-old items. Here we go.
What is a Fire Mark, Anyway?
The short answer is that fire marks began as metal plaques attached somewhere on the front of homes in London, way back in the 17th century. Those plaques signaled private firefighting companies that they would be paid in the event they were called to extinguish a fire at the marked structure. The plaques were decorative, and generally featured the insuring company’s logo. This much I already knew, but there’s more.
The Atlas Obscura site filled in some gaps for me. The Great Fire of London in 1666 provided the impetus for the general public to take measures to address property protection. The answer was the first property insurance company, the Fire Office. Other private insurers sprang up, most of them providing coverage for repairs and/or reconstruction. Eventually, the penny dropped, and they decided that preventing fire damage would be more cost-effective. These companies formed fire brigades to combat fire and mitigate damage to the dwellings they insured. The fire marks represented the existence of coverage as well as which fire brigade would respond.
As shown below, some fire marks included the policy number, as it were.
Fun Facts about Fire Marks and Way-back Firefighting
- By 1690, at least one in ten London homes was insured against fire. Not a bad start for a new concept that required a fee. (Atlas Oscura)
- A legend arose around 1920 that asserted fire brigades would walk away from burning homes that had no fire mark or if the carrier was not their employer. According to Tom Scott, this has been repeatedly debunked. Offering aid to poor families was humane and had the added benefit of being good advertising. In any case, putting out all the fires keeps “your” structure from burning.
- The earliest brigades were comprised of Thames watermen, and they may not even have had a fire engine. Umm. Where did they get the water, and how did they manage to project it farther than they could throw it?
- In the early 18th century, legislation was introduced to offer monetary incentives for the first brigade(s) to arrive at the scene. It’s always “follow the money”. This time, kind of in reverse.
- Fire marks didn’t make their way to the U.S. until the end of the 18th century. Perhaps we had too many survival issues at that point to worry about property? (Atlas Oscura)
Let's Put a Match to It
To that last point, about fire marks in the U.S., the protocol wasn’t necessarily the same as in the UK. Shocker, huh? By the time fire marks arrived in Philadelphia, the fire brigades’ evolution was almost complete (Atlas Oscura). Volunteer fire brigades were already well established in an effort to serve the community as a whole. Nonetheless, insurers organized their own services and offered the same types of incentives available in London.
By then, publicly paid firefighters were becoming more popular in London, and, as already mentioned, the U.S. had made inroads into fire damage mitigation before fire marks reached the continent. All that said, those metal beauties were no longer required as proof of coverage and they lingered primarily for aesthetic or advertising value.
Even as someone who is a professed insurance nerd, I have to say that the thought of a simplified way to identify insured property is appealing. And let’s be real, having teeny-tiny insuring agreements with teeny-tiny policy numbers would be a little slice of heaven.
But then I think about the rest of 18th century living conditions–the lack of modern conveniences, like indoor toilets, and I decide my thirty-plus-page policy is an okay trade-off.
Still digging those fire marks, though.
One of my agents in the St. Louis area had an extensive collection of fire marks. You may have seen it in your travels throughout southern Illinois. Daniel & Henry gave everyone replica fire mark paperweights for some occasion. I still have it.
I do remember seeing fire marks in several agents’ offices. Didn’t think much of them then, but my values have changed a bit over the last several decades.
The thought occurred to me that probably with no camera with the fire raging they would take time to get numbers and also sad “nopay no spray “.
Supposedly, those instances were few and far between. It was more expedient to put out all fires so adjacent structures didn’t burn with one that wasn’t insured. Who knows for sure?
Interesting. Had seen those in England and had no idea what they were. They look a little easy to replicate to my liking.
Well, they might be easy to replicate “now”, but perhaps not so much a few hundred years ago. I didn’t realize until I did the research that there are museums for firefighting history. I’ll have to look them up the next time I’m either in the northeast or across the pond.