Starting for the Fire

Starting for the Fire (1896), directed by James H. White for the Edison Manufacturing Company, was filmed on location in Newark, New Jersey. The short captures the dramatic moment fire engines race into action, with teams of horses “dashing madly by, reeking with foam” as one engine after another speeds past. Part of a trio of Edison firefighting films, it exemplifies the era’s fascination with motion, urgency, and public spectacle.