EFFICIENT WORK

Taranaki Daily News, 17 April 1935, Page 7

EFFICIENT WORK

NEW PLYMOUTH FIRE BRIGADE. FIRE LOSSES STILL DECREASING. A report on the activities of the year presented at the annual meeting of the New Plymouth fire brigade last'.night by Superintendent A. Boon shows that the brigade has amply, maintained! its- efficiency in the last 12 months and • that fire loss at New Plymouth is decreasing. New Plymouth had been very fortunate during the year’, stated the report, in that no fire in the centre of the town or in a congested area had not been controlled. To a large extent this had been due to early call and quick response by the resident firemen on station duty. The brigade was indebted to the public' for quick alarm when a fire was discov-. ered. Where possible this should always be made through a fire alarm box rather than by telephone. It was an admitted fact that most fires were caused by carelessness, and it was perhaps not generally realised that fire cost the Dominion' £1,000,000 a year, which, though covered by insurance iii most cases, was still a considerable loss to the public. Mr. R. Girling Butcher, Government inspector of fire brigades, attended the' United Fire Brigades’ Association conference at Blenheim and stressed the importance of every brigade making a public demonstration during fire prevention week and of enlisting public sympathy and interest in minimising fire waste. This had' been done to the brigade’s best ability, 1 and thanks were due to'Mr. T. Petty, captain of the fire police, for attending schools and' distributing circulars, > A review.of the work done during the year showed that 54 alarms had been received, against 47 last year. Of these 12 were fires in buildings, two being ..outside the town boundary and , water supply, eight were calls to motor-cars,' 10 to chimneys, 19 to rubbish and grass fires and one to. a .motor-launch at Moturoa. Four were false alarms. The superintendent thanked the chairman and members of the fire board for their continued interest in the welfare of the brigade and its equipment. Each year had shown a decided? improvement. It was gratifying to report a further reduction in fire loss during the last two years. .. SOCIAL ACTIVITIES. .■//'. ■ - The social activities of the brigade, continued the report, were carried on aS usual and included billiards tournaments and card matches. On the bowling green keen interest was maintained. Thanks Were due to Mr. F. Carrington, the green warden, and 'to members of the club who assisted with care of the green. Owing to the dry season the surface cut up rather badly and it was decided to close the season earlier than usual. With newly sown seed it was hoped the green would be in excellent order for next season. Fireman Hartley defeated Fireman Goodwin for the club championship after Fireman Goodwin had been holder for five ..years. Though the accounts showed a small debit, the brigade’s financial .position could only be considered satisfactory. Superintendent Boon thanked the fire police officers and members for their close co-operation and assistance with fires, traffic control* and demonstrations during the year. He thanked officers and members of the brigade for their close attention to duty and continued interest. The attendance records showed that Firemen L. Street and T. R. Ford had a possible of 54 attendances. This was the fifth consecutive year in which Fireman Street had attended every call—a wonderful record l . Other members whose attendance was eminently satisfactory were Foreman Hartley, Firemen J. Inch, H. Inch, Custodian Doughty 53, Fireman Burgess 51, Superintendent Boon, Fireman Bellfinger 50, Firemen Courtney and Prentice 48, Custodian Woodhead 47, Firemen Rawson, Lile, Giddy 47, Julian 44, Sadler, Roche 43, Goodwin 33. Connett 29, Murtagh 23, Murray 22, Read 21. SERVICE DECORATIONS. Decorations earned' for ; the year were: Gold bar, 43 years’ service, DeputySuperintendent H. H. Ford; gold bar, 37 years’ service, Superintendent A. Boon; gold bar, 33 years’ service, Ex-Foreman A. Way; gold bar, 27 years’ service, Foreman A. Courtney, Custodian F. Doughty; silver bar, 21 years’ service, Acting-Secretary T. R. Ford; silver bar, 19 years’ service, Fireman Bellringer; silver bar, 11 years’ service, Fireman L. Street; silver medals, five years’ service, Firemen T. Rawson and S. Julian. The chairman of the fire board, Mr. W. .C. Weston, attended? at the conclusion of the meeting to present decorations. It might appear, he said, that the fire board did not take a. very active interest in the brigade, but this was by no means the case. The board watched the brigade's activities with great care and thoroughly appreciated the splendid* way in which members fulfilled their duties by personal sacrifice and hard work. At the conclusion of the meeting Fireman Burgess, who will shortly be married, was presented with a case of carvers on behalf of his fellow brigadesmen and returned thanks for the gift. Members of the fire police corps joined the brigade at the conclusion of the meeting and the remainder of the evening was spent playing cards and billiards. The new year’s officers are: DeputySuperintendent, Mr. H. H. Ford; foremen, Messrs. L. Hartley (No. A) and A. Courtney (No. 2); secretary,’Mr. T. R. Ford; treasurer, Superintendent A. Boon; executive, Firemen J. Inch and W. Roche; auditors, Messrs. L. Sheet and S. Sadler. The balance-sheet showed a debit of £6 2s 6d in the general account.