5. In the 1800s, many towns and cities in America did not have the kind of public fire departments that we know today. Rather, fire-fighting was a private business. Fire-fighting companies would sign up customers and would put out fires only at their customers' homes. Each customer who signed up with a particular fire-fighting company would get a so-called "firemark" (such as the one below) to place on their home as a sign that they had paid the required price.