Ottoman Firemen

FASTER THAN FIRE WITH CRIES OF BRAVERY “WE COME THUNDERING, WE GO THUNDERING”, TULUMBACILAR, PROTECTING THE CITY OF ISTANBUL - WHEREIN THE WOODEN HOUSES REIGN - FROM FIRES, WERE THE HEROIC & FULL OF COURAGE FIGURES IN HISTORY

THE OTTOMAN FIREFIGHTERS WITH PUMPS…

They fought the fires which burned down the length and breadth of Istanbul and ruined a great number of priceless works of art. They had specific traditions, customs and literature. They were fearless and venturesome. They were “tulumbacılar”, the speedy firefighters of history faster than fire. This kind of firefighting (being a “Tulumbacı” fireman) was almost a sport branch in its glorious time. The people setting their hearts on this job could not renounce it easily as if they had fallen in love with it. The Ottoman firefighters called “Tulumbacılar”, the members of “the pump chest”, who did their own daily works in the daytime, immediately left their works in case of sudden fire and wore their specific clothes and went out with their chests. Their clothes bore specific properties. Each chest had a specific uniform. These firefighters wore shirts called “mintan”, half-trousers and shoes called “kamerçin”. Signs were put on the shirts to show which district the firefighters belonged to. The firefighters received the news of fire by the watchmen in the fire towers built in the high places of the city. They ran to the fire scenes with their extinguishing tools and water pumps on their shoulders and the chiefs in front of them. Because the fighters went on the double to the fire scenes, they exchanged places so that they didn’t get tired and their speed didn’t decrease. The firefighters of each district competed for being more useful as a team and arriving at the scene earlier. They tried to extinguish the fire by means of the equipment of that time. The firefighters running to the fire scenes were classified into the categories like “lantern carrier”, “piper (carrier/user of a pipe)”, “supporter”, “hoser (carrier/user of a hose)” according to the services they fulfilled. The firefighters carrying the water pump on their backs to fire scenes at the double were called “servant”. “Lantern carriers” went in front of others in teams, leading to fire scenes. Every four firefighters carried one pump chest. A team of four groups consisting of four men each, contained 22 people, including “chest crew” whose titles and duties have been mentioned above.

What is “water pump”?

A force pump called “çardaklı”, which was 120 kg and operated by pouring water, was made by a French engineer, David, who had come from France to Istanbul, become a Muslim and got the name of Davut. Thereafter a “Pumper Union “ was composed of 13-14 men, as a result of the attention of “Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha “ to it. This force pump, too difficult to use, was added a sucking mechanism by a chief of “Bostanlı”. Thus this kind of pump – in the form of “lift and force pump”–enabled quick and efficient responses to fires.