Marcus Crassus used to run private firefighters in Rome. When there was a fire his units had been assembling at selected properties and waited why Marcus had be

Marcus Crassus used to run private firefighters in Rome. When there was a fire his units had been assembling at selected properties and waited why Marcus had been negotiating with the property owner. Only when the deal was made and Crassus purchased the property firemen started extinguishing fire. Hence the fire sale... > The first ever Roman fire brigade was created by Crassus. He took advantage of the fact that Rome had no fire department, by creating his own brigade—500 men strong—which rushed to burning buildings at the first cry of alarm. Upon arriving at the scene, however, the fire fighters did nothing while Crassus offered to buy the burning building from the distressed property owner, at a miserable price. If the owner agreed to sell the property, his men would put out the fire, if the owner refused, then they would simply let the structure burn to the ground. After buying many properties this way, he rebuilt them, and often leased the properties to their original owners or new tenants. [1] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Licinius_Crassus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Licinius_Crassus