] In some locations householders were required by local ordinance to own a minimum number of fire buckets.

] Can you explain further please, Roger?

With pleasure, madam.

The following quotation is from the booklet Firefighting Equipment by Brian Wright (Shire Publications, 1989)

Buckets are among the earliest items of firefighting equipment, and an illustrated manuscript of the fifteenth century shows them being used to fight a fire. Over the next two centures numerous regulations were passed concerning the provision and maintenance of fire buckets. For example, in 1574 every householder in Winchester was required to keep a 'lethern bucket' available in case of fire... London's Court of Common Council in 1575 ordered that buckets were to be kept in churches, and the cost was to be borne by the parishoners. The same year saw all the Cambridge colleges equipped with buckets, hooks, and ladders.

...Fire buckets were kept not only by individuals and in the churches, but large country houses often had them in large numbers, as did mills and other industrial premesis. The fire insurance companies supplied many buckets to their agents, parishes, and local authorities... Between 1730 and 1830 the Sun Fire Office alone ordered and distributed ten thousand fire buckets.

...Many buckets are painted with names, initials or coats of arms so they could be returned to their owners after the fire was extinguished.

The same publication mentions that sand buckets seem to have appeared in the late 19th century, and I can add that sand has an advantage over water in that it does not evaporate.

It also discusses the development of the fire engine, which first appeared in signifigant numbers in the 1600's, and saw gradual improvement over the centuries, and further states:

They were also purchased by many country house owners to protect their own property and often the surrounding villages.

One can only wonder what sort of fire equipment was found at Rosings, and how The Old Bat behaved during a fire... she probably had her own fire helmet and a silver-plated megaphone!

The development of more sophisticated fire extinguishers, the steam fire engine, and the motorized fire engine are beyond the range of JA's life & times, but are nonetheless very interesting subjects.