FIRE FIGHTERS’ TESTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 March 1929, Page 4

FIRE FIGHTERS’ TESTS

LONDON BRIGADES.

A very high standard is required from the professional fire-fighter. _ln London recruits must be between the ages of 19 and 31, measure at least 37in. round the chest, and be not less than sft. sin. in height. He is toughened by a hard spell ot “physical jerks,” and every day his tests of daring and agility grow slightly harder. He has to jump from increasing heights into a sheet held by his comrades until he thinks nothing of “taking off” from an awkward, narrow ledge twenty-five to thirty feet from the ground. He gains supreme confidence in the portable scaling ladders, finally being able to make such good use of three 131 ft. lengths that he can mount the face of a 45ft. wall like a human fly. The ladders are made of strong, selected ash. and will easily bear two men. They have powerful hooks with saw-tooth edges that grip into brickwork or wood as if cemented or bolt-hold, yet they can be lifted clear with but little effort. He learns to pick up a fifteen-stone man, sling his burden across his shoulder and come, hand over hand, down from some dizzy height. Before he is through with his course he is able to stand poised on the extreme edge of a tall building while he rapidly improvises a rope “sling” that will carry an unconscious victim to the ground. lie masters the art of making the best use of a heavy hose while clinging to an extending ladder that sends him shooting upwards in a series of jerks until he is swinging and swaying a full eighty feet above the heads of his fellows.

The theory pf the fireman’s craft must be mastered, too. Different types of outbreaks need varying handling. Thus, an oil-fed fire cannot be treated as can flaming timber. Smoke helmets, searchlights, oxy-acetylene steel-cut-ting plant, powerful air pumps, and many other inventions are used by brigades and studied by recruits. There are hoses that emit a shield of spray (says “rdtuis”) as well as a. jet of water, so that the users can advance through otherwise impassable smoke and flames. There are wonderful chemical ‘‘extinguishers” that must have their “ins and outs” known by heart. Then, also, every fireman must be an exnert in first-aid.

London alone spends over £500,000 a year on n brigade that has a strength of 2,000 men and 67 fire stations, of which three are on the river. They between 3,000 and 4,000 calls a year, pouring away over 12,000,000 gallons of water in their efforts. Throughout the Whole country some 23,000 fires

occur within a twelve-month, and cost an average of nearly £5O each to extinguish.