The development and organization of fire protection in Idrija before 1890

Abstract

Based on the analysis of various materials performed with the use of comparative method, the article presents a historical outline of the organization of fire safety and the form of fire protection in Idrija from the time when the mercury mine commenced its operations at the end of the fifteenth century to the founding of the Idrija Volunteer Fire Association in 1890. The town’s development was inextricably linked to the mine’s operations, as were probably also the beginnings and organization of fire safety in Idrija. The article aims to determine who was responsible for ensuring fire safety and in what ways the inhabitants of Idrija tried to protect themselves from fire in the past. In its final section, the article contains a list of documented mine pit fires from the sixteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century.