THE FIRE SCARE

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 321, 7 October 1908, Page 8

THE FIRE SCARE

SUPERINTENDENT O'BRIEN ' EXPLAINS. NEW SCHEME MAKES FOR EFFI- ' CIENCY. In view of the letters which liavo been appearing in tho papers of lato about the new constitution of tho Wellington Municipal Fire Brigado, and in particular a letter which appeared iii yesterday's Dominion signed ['Ratepayer,." a reporter called on Superintendent O'Brien yesterday to see if there was -anything, in the charges. "Ratepayer's" letter was full of scare. It said: "Sir, —I wish to point out an incident which happened last Wednesday night. I saw several firemen carrying their uniforms, and on inquiry I learnt that they' wero' tho auxiliary firemen .who wero taking their uniforms iu, as they were resigning from tho brigado on account of their pay being reduced from £15 to £7 10s., and I do not blame them for tho stop they took. As tho majority of these men were from Newtown, I would like to ask tho City Fathers what are they going do to protect our property in Newtown. There will not bo sufficient men to cope with a big fire, as there arc only threo or four permanent men in Newtown. Of course, tho firo engine may como from tho city, but it might break down and never get thero, as it has dono on several occasions." Reading this, one can conceive how easily residents'of Newtown could becomo alarmed at tho risk they run according to our correspondent. 'Superintendent O'Brien's statement, however, is very reassuring. "At the present time there are eight men sleeping at tho Newtown station," says Mr. O'Brien. "Leaving ono in charge, that leaves seven men to attend any fire that may occur—a full reel. Now wo turn out with the motor to every alarm. The motor takes out another seven men, and can reach any part of Newtown in six or seven minutes; that is, fourteen men to copo with what I would call a first-aid firo—moro would bo too many. They would bo in each other's way, causing confusion. "But if it looked like a serious firo we could call up tho rest of tho men from the station —thero are nineteen altogether— and, if necessary, the threo men at Thorndon and the auxiliaries, so that Newtown can rest assured that it is as safo as over it has been. i "There is nothing else in tho letter worth arguing about. Ho says the engine might break down. Anything is possible, of course, but that is not probable—it is too well looked after. "Again, he talks about the auxiliaries' wages being reduced from £15 to £7 10s. This is quite misleading. The new arrangement is that auxiliaries receive a retaining fee of £7 10s per annum, for which they have to attend drill once a month, and are only asked to attend fires when called upon— not every time thero is an alarm, as was tho case before. Now when they are asked to work they get 3s. for the first hour and 2s. for every subsequent hour. In any case, tho men only received £5 for the first year's service under the old system, the £15 qualification coming in tho second year. I am quite satisfied with tho new scheme, and am more than ever certain that it was quite a wrong idea for all the auxiliaries to turn out to every alarm, when in nino cases out of ton there was nothing for them to do. The fixed wages is not so much as it was, but tho wago is not so much as it was, but tho work or put up with tho inconvenience as formerly." 1 In conclusion, Superintendent O'Brien "stated that in the case of an outbreak in the city proper —the big business blocks—he never left anything to chance. Everybody was called up right away in case there should bo serious trouble, but beyond certain hints there was no need for acting in such a manner.