Fahrenheit 451 and summer reading question?

Question

why do you think the firemens rulebook credit Benjamin Franklin.. a writer. publisher, political leader, inventor, and ambassador ... as being the first fireman?

Answer 1

Benjamin Franklin is known for establishing the first ever Volunteer Fire Department in the United States of America. So naturally, he would be known as the first fireman. However, he was a fireman that put out "actual" fires, not a fireman that started fires (like Guy Montag). The chief firemen around the country don't want the other firemen to know that there used to be a time in which firemen put out fires instead of starting them to get rid of books. That's the difference.

Answer 2

In fact BF was responsible for some "first" in so far as fire fighting was concerned, possibly setting up the first volunteer fire department somewhere, probably Philadelphia. So yes, his name is definitely linked to fire-fighting.