I did a quick search and didn't find any mention of this subject, and I hope this is the appropriate place to post this question.
Does anyone know whether any of the various palaces had their own fire brigades? I know that it was not unusual in Britain for the owners of country estates to purchase fire engines and train their male employees as volunteer firefighters. I believe that Windsor Castle has its own fire engine and six permanently-assigned firefighters (alas, they were unable to stop the catastrophic fire of several years ago).
When you consider it, most palaces were (and are) horrific fire risks when you consider the following:
1) Long, unobscructed halls and corridors;
2) Floors, paneling, furniture, and other woodwork polished with wax and oil for decades, if not centuries;
3) Before the electrical era, hundreds of candles and oil lamps;
4) Wood-burning stoves and fireplaces;
5) Behind all the marble and granite, wood framing and hundreds of wooden beams;
6) Tapestries and other flammable wall hangings;
7) Huge, high-ceilinged rooms providing good conditions for comubustion (lots of oxygen);
The list could go on, but I think you get the picture. Another factor to consider was the fact that it was the end of the Imperial Era before motorized fire engines became common, giving all the more reason to have a fire engine already on the premises. Winter conditions would make things even worse by freezing both water supplies and firefighters.
So, can anyone shed any light on this question? Thanks very much.
