They'd form lines to a stream or a well and then pass buckets of water from hand to hand and throw them on the fire.
A double line of men passed inside buckets filled with water from a well down the street and empty buckets back out.
They sat in a line and passed buckets from hand to hand, to be emptied over the side.
It gets its name from an analogy with a chain of firefighters passing buckets of water.
The student body passed buckets around the stadium to a then record crowd of 42,700 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Then he gives his stump speech and his aides pass plastic buckets for cash donations.
We can turn out our men and pass buckets to your men outside the gate.
They passed buckets of sand the same way.
Others formed rough lines to sand piles in kitchen courtyards, passing full buckets to those who fought the blaze.
The men then formed a chain to pass buckets of water to fight the fire.