FIRE BRIGADE YEAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 307, 30 December 1942, Page 4

FIRE BRIGADE YEAR

NO SERIOUS OUTBREAKS IN WANGANUI GRASS FIRES INCREASE If no serious fires occur before midnight to-morrow the Wanganui Fire Board will be able to look back on 1942 as a year in which its efforts to prevent fire losses have been remarkably successful. The result speaks volumes for the efficiency of the Central and Castle’ cliff brigades and also suggests that the instructional work which is carried out by the boards’ officers from time to time is having good effect in all units of the brigade personnel, including the Brigade Auxiliary and Emergency Fire Service. Compared with the previous year more calls were received in 1942, the figures being 177 as against 135. The increase is accounted for by the large number of grass fires during November, which was a very dry month this year. So far there has been 98 grass fires, compared with 47 last year. The classified calls, with those for 1941 in patentheses, are:—Grass fires 98 (47); actual fires 41 (37); chimneys 15 (21); justifiable false alarms 10 (7); malicious false alarms 7 (9»; rubbish 6 (6). During the present year there were two calls from outside the district. The most difficult outbreak the brigade had to deal with during the year was a grass fire which swept the Balgownie Swamp and taxed the efforts of both the Castlecliff and Central brigades for more than three hours. The highlight of the Fire Brigade year in Wanganui was the large-scale exercises which were held in Juiv last. The demonstration, which was attended by several outside brigades, including personnel from Palmerston North and Hawera, was highly successful. It was held at the instigation of tne Dominion Fire Controller, Mr. R. Girling Butcher, and mor n than 7000 feet of hose were used and thousands of gallons of water pumped from the river and emergency reservoirs. Visitors who watched the exercises included the then Minister of Civil Defence. Hon. W. A. Bodkin; Mr. J. Girling Butcher; Mr. A. D. Wilson, senior staff officer of the National Fire Service (London); Lieut.-Colonel C. V. Ciochetto (Palmerston North), E.P.S. Regional Commissioner; Mr. T. L. Seddon (Feilding); Mr. S. M. Kinrbss, divisional officer of the Emergency Fire Service (Wellington): and Mr. C. W. Hamann, deputy chitf engineer to the Ministry of Home Security, Great Britain. In the early part of the present month all units of the brigade took part in an E.P.S. trial, which again produced a high standard of efficiency. The personnel of the Wanganui Fire Brigade is 16 permanent firemen and 16 auxiliaries. To meet wartime emergency there are other auxiliary units, including the Emergency Fire Service, which )*? specially trained, and various fir' groups which are stationed in different parts of the citv and suburbs. Ten members of the brigade are serving in the armed forces, three being in the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The superintendent. Mr. N. M. Ross, the deputy superintendent, Mr. W. Brown, and the third officer, Mr. G. Ross, saw active service in the last war.