History: In 1877, the first horses were bought for the city fire department. The department would continue to use horses for its equipment for almost fifty years, phasing out the last horse drawn equipment on July 19, 1921. When the Los Angeles Fire Department was formed in 1886, it had 4 fire stations, two steam fire engines, two hose reels, a hose wagon, a 65' aerial ladder truck, 31 paid firefighters, 24 reserve firefighters and 11 horses to protect 30 square miles (77 km²) and a population of 50,000. By 1900, the Department had grown to 18 fire stations with 123 full-time paid firefighters and 80 fire horses. The city had also installed 194 fire-alarm boxes allowing citizens to sound the alarm if a fire was spotted. 660 fire hydrants were placed throughout the city, giving firefighters access to a reliable water source. In 1911, the Department had 32 fire stations. In this year the last of the fire houses specifically for fire horses were built. By this time the department had 163 horses. This same year saw the department purchase its first single-piece auto pumper and hose-carrying apparatus. It was assigned to Engine 26. In 1955 Station 78 in Studio City became the first racially integrated station in the department. In 2007, LAFD had nearly 3,600 uniformed personnel operating from 106 fire stations who offer fire prevention, firefighting, emergency medical care, technical rescue, hazardous materials mitigation, disaster response, public education and community service to a resident population of more than 4 million people who live in the agency's 471 square mile (1,220 km²) jurisdiction. Near the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, up to fifty arsons exhausted the fire department. It was the worst arson in Los Angeles for 20 years