FUTURE FIREMEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23970, 21 May 1941, Page 11

FUTURE FIREMEN

EMERGENCY SERVICE £ - TRAINEES IN THE CITY LEARNING THE GROUNDWORK For over an hour last night the precincts of the city fire bragade building,were filled with the sounds of orders, running feet, the swish of hose rapidly uncoiling along asphalt, and the clank of stand-pipes being fitted to hydrants, as 77 future non-commissioned officers in the Emergency Fire Service engaged in training. Bystanders in Berest'ord Street ,watched the different squads, each ol ! 10 men, and noted how keenly tliev learned and practised the drills which go to make the unspectacular side of fire-fighting. Each has to learn the duties of the others, so that should occasion warrant, any one of them may slip easily into any other post in a squad. Four months hence they should he fully trained and qui'te capable ol meeting an emergency. Hut first tliev have to learn everything about tin equipment they will use—the different parts, their functions, and how best t( use them.

The recruits listened carefully t(i what was told them by officers and senior firemen of the city brigade, and watched closely as the routine of coupling and so on was demonstrated. Most of the recruits are about 30 years of age. The eldest is 50. Nearly all of them are married men with "two children, and unlikely to be called for oversea military service. Here and there one noticed a man's movements bespoke familiarity with the knack of doing the right thing at the right time, and invariably an inquiry showed he had had previous experience in a volunteer brigade, but needed a refresher course. These men, and the remaining 300 in the ranks of the city's Emergency Fire Service, will perform a valuable function. At present they are busily learning the groundwork, and for an hour on each of four nights, as well as Saturday afternoons, for the next four months, they will concentrate t licit energies upon fire-fighting, against thp time when their training and skill may be needed.