Plot

A fireman rushes into a carriage to rescue a woman from a house fire. He breaks the windowpanes and carries the woman to safety; after dangerous and uncertain moments he also saves the woman's son.

Porter's sequential continuity editing links several shots to form a narrative of firemen responding to a house fire. They leave the station with their horse-drawn pumper, arrive on the scene, and effect the safe rescue of a woman from the burning house. But wait, she tells them of her child yet asleep in the burning bedroom . . .—Thomas McWilliams <tgm@netcom.com>

It would be difficult for the exhibitor to conceive the amount of work involved and the number of rehearsals necessary to produce a film of this description. We were compelled to enlist the services of the fire departments of four different cities, New York, Newark, Orange, and East Orange, New Jersey, and about 300 firemen appear in the various scenes. From the first conception of this wonderful series of pictures it was our aim to portray the "Life of an American Fireman" without exaggeration, and at the same time to embody the dramatic situations and spectacular effects which so greatly enhance a motion picture performance. The work of American fire departments is known throughout the world, and the fame of the American fireman is echoed around the entire world. He is known to be the most expert and the bravest of all firefighters. This film faithfully and accurately depicts his thrilling and dangerous calling and emphasizes the perils he encounters when human life is at stake, every movement of the brave firemen and their perfectly trained horses from the moment the men leap from their beds in response to an alarm until the fire is extinguished and a woman and child are rescued after many fierce battles with flame and smoke.—Edison Catalog