There is a question about why fire buckets have round bottoms.

The relationship between leather, metal and plastic is entwined with the history of fire buckets.

It used to be more difficult to put out a fire.There was little in the way of an organised fire service before the 17th century.

Many of the world's major cities were ravaged by a number of devastating fires.

Thousands of buildings, including the Royal Exchange, the Guildhall and the medieval St Paul's Cathedral, were destroyed when the fire started at a bakery on Pudding Lane.

Parish groups used fire buckets, axes, and water squirts to fight fires in the past.

The fire bucket was probably dropped in the chaos of the fire.The buckets were made from leather and had a rope handle, but they only held a small amount of water.

Insurance companies formed fire brigades after the Great Fire of London.The private fire brigades were only instructed to extinguish fires on properties that were insured by the insurance company.

The brigades started putting out other insurance company's fires for a fee to be charged later, and then started extinguishing all fires to stop fires from spreading to insured buildings.

The public funded fire brigades followed closely behind technological advances like fire engines and pumping systems.

Leather fire buckets became the next obvious jump from metal as it became easier to mine and manipulate metal.

The metal buckets were used as a cheap and easy first line of defence against small fires instead of being stored in a church hall.

They were in prominent positions in rooms and corridors, close to fire pits, and in government buildings like school canteens and army barracks.

The round or conical bottoms of metal fire buckets prevent them from being stolen or used for another purpose.The buckets were hung up or suspended so that they wouldn't fall over.