Vintage work crew photos

[Frank S]

What did they do with the horses once they arrived at the fire? Did someone remove them for their safety and to keep them from going nuts over the fire?

You are correct once a pumping unit was placed on station the horses would no longer be required the team usually only 2 unless it was one of the much larger pumping units would have been the fire station and possibly used to haul a ladder wagon, but most of the horses were trained not to panic in the face of a fire situation resualting in them remaining hitched to the engine they were pulling In larger cities some fire houses had several horses stabled in the fire house several teams were required to haul multiple pumping units and other fire fighting gear
A very good read about the history of fire horses
A History of Horses in the Fire Service - Fire History