Fire Vehicles: The very first fire engines simply consisted of a pump mounted on wheels. With the advent of property insurance in the 18th Century, the first Fire Brigades were introduced. In order to protect their assets Insurance Company's had a vested interest in using the most efficient methods obtainable to protect property's insured with them. This lead to the appearance of horse drawn pumps, once at the scene of a fire the pump was man powered. The advent of small efficient steam engines to replace manpower for pumps enabled the use of far larger and more consistent quantities of water at much higher pressure then previously attainable. These "Steamers" were still horse drawn, over short distances the response speed of a team of horses was not to be beaten until the arrival of petrol engines. Self-powered Fire Engines are usually produced by specialised manufacturer's, the drive train and chassis obtained from a mainstream maker, the pump and ancillary equipment from various sources. The builder combines all the components together with a coach built body to the specification of the purchaser.