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The history of organized combating of structural fires dates back at least to Ancient Egypt. Many people put out fires back in biblical times, but whether people did it for a living is unknown.

Firefighters were known in the Roman Republic, but only as privately organised and funded groups operating as more of a business than a service. This ad-hoc approach was later revolutionised during the Principate to become the first truly professional firefighting service. Augustus called for the creation of a trained fire guard, paid and equipped by the state. Known as the Vigiles, they were organised into cohorts and also served as a night watch and a city police force.

Today, fire and rescue remains a mix of paid, call, and volunteer responders. The UK has the retained fire service, whereby fire fighters are on call with pagers from their homes and/or place of work.