Brigade de sapeurs-pompiers de Paris
The first fire brigades in the modern sense were created in France in the early 18th century. In 1699, a man with bold commercial ideas, François du Mouriez du Périer (grandfather of French Revolution general Charles François Dumouriez), solicited an audience with King Louis XIV. Greatly interested in Jan Van der Heyden's invention, he successfully demonstrated the new pumps and managed to convince the king to grant him the monopoly of making and selling "fire-preventing portable pumps" throughout the kingdom of France. François du Mouriez du Périer offered 12 pumps to the City of Paris, and the first Paris Fire Brigade, known as the "Compagnie des gardes-pompes" (literally the "Company of Pump Guards"), was created in 1716. François du Mouriez du Périer was appointed "directeur des pompes de la Ville de Paris" ("director of the City of Paris's pumps"), i.e. chief of the Paris Fire Brigade, and the position stayed in his family until 1760. In the following years, other fire brigades were created in the large French cities. Around that time appeared the current French word "pompier" ("firefighter"), whose literal meaning is "pumper." On March 11, 1733 the French government decided that the interventions of the fire brigades would be free of charge. This was decided because people always waited until the last moment to call the fire brigades to avoid paying the fee, and it was often too late to stop fires. From 1750 on, the French fire brigades became para-military units and received uniforms. In 1756 the use of a protective helmet for firefighters was recommended by King Louis XV, but it took many more years before the measure was actually enforced on the ground.