When the Great Fire of London was raging in 1666, there were no water pumps, no hoses, no hydrants, a limited supply of available water, and, worst of all, no trained firefighters to battle this ferocious enemy. Fire follows two thousand years of human effort to be safe from fire. Some of the most ingenious fire fighting inventions have come at a terrible price. Others, like the remarkable story behind the creation of the automatic sprinkler, were born of genius and the unassailable knowledge that the best way to survive a fire is to prevent it.

Original Broadcast Date: March 16, 1999