In 1917, the Rio de Janeiro Fire Department official band performed the new hymn praising the Corporation: Fire Soldiers. The lyrics celebrated the sacred mission of those volunteer workers who did not fear death when in battles against the most awful and horrid fires. The verses condensed a narrative that had been institutionally forged since the mid-nineteenth century, aiming at consolidating the heroic character of its corps engaged with the task of protecting life and property as a duty to be fulfilled even if losing their lives while doing it. That ideal version of the firefighter s social place, elaborated and re-elaborated by the Corporation, will be questioned in this thesis in three main arguments. First of all, based on the analysis of the forms of recruitment and on the profile of the agents within the lower hierarchical levels, the study will reveal the dynamics related to different work spheres as well as occupational tensions by the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, which do not fit the image of a volunteer brigade ready to sacrifice life for the cause. Also, the research presents a Fire Department as less cogent than that ideal imagined by its commanders, greatly caused by distinctions and hierarchies that separated a great majority of poor workers from the high ranking officials in the Brazilian Army. Finally, the thesis reveals the limitations on firefighting attributions, due to very precarious working conditions or to lack of adequate equipment. The research also brings to the main stage a whole new universe of workers fighting not only a great number of fires but also for salaries, work conditions, and the possibility of social climbing.