FIREMEN STAND CEASELESS GUARD AGAINST MAN'S WORST ENEMY —FIRE!

Wanganui Chronicle, 7 October 1950, Page 4

FIREMEN STAND CEASELESS GUARD AGAINST MAN'S WORST ENEMY —FIRE!

They Work At Night

City Has One Of Most Efficient Brigades In N.Z. i

A 3d stirs in its sleep, breaks the stillness of the night with a Succession of choking coughs as it inhales an atmosphere impregnated with smoke. Instinctively, its parents awake and know immediately that this is no ordinary cough. Already, the corridors are heavy with smoke. Some of it is pouring through open fanlights into bedrooms, and somewhere in the background is an ominous crackling, and a roaring which, is increasing in intensity. A woman scream's and a man's voice is heard echoing the dreadcst cry of all “Fire! Fire!” A mother has the presence of mind to snatch her child from its bed and make for the open window and fire escape beyond. In the dark street a police constable smashes the glass of a nearby street alarm. Instantly, a shutter drops in the Duplex alarm cabinet in the watchroom at Central Fire Station, and a gong clangs. The watchman springs from his camp stretcher and throws over a treble switch. The entire building immediately becomes a blaze oi’ lights. Bells ring out in every part of the station, in the firemen's flats, in the quarters of the auxiliary staff. Firemen come running across the floodlit yards, others slide down a pole from their quarters on the first floor. Helmets and tunics, with belts and axes attached, are snatched from pegs along the station walls. The motors of two machines, kept warm by electrical elements, have already been started. A city call has come' through by street box. and because it is a tall from the heart of the city area the brigade is turning out in full strength. i In the watchroom, time and place of. the call have been recorded indelibly by a tape machine. These important details are checked by the superintendent and officer who will go out on the first machine. Fifty-nine seconds from the time the alarm was given, th s machine is roaring out into the street, its siren screaming, followed seconds late'- by another. And because the call is of an unknown quantity from a highly vulnerable area the brigade is mustering its full forces for the saving of life and property. Again, the wail of a siren is heard, this time ' from afar. Cast loci iff sub-slat ion has boon communi aled with by direct telephone. A third machine is on its This, briefly, is what happens when the Wanganui Fire Brigade receives

I Wanganui Brigade Second To None “I have always said our brigade is second to none in New Zealand,” stated the chairman of the Wanganui Fire Board. Mr G. P. Hawkins, last night. “The efficiency and high standard attained is very gratifying indeed. We have a very happy and contented staff in Wanganui. They are very loyal and I am proud of them,” hp added. Few people realised the amount of work the firemen had to do to keep their organisation operating with a maximum of efficiency, Mr Hawkins stated. Besidese constant work in the station the staff had to maintain the electric alarm system throughout the city. The Wanganui staff had proven its loyalty by doing even more work than was obligatory. Their efforts had saved the Fire Board a considerable amount of expense. major outbreak, when seconds may mean life and the difference between a good save or heavy material loss. It is no exaggeration to say that the brigade can turn out in the time staff'd from a standing start, with the entire station asleep. The performance has been repeated on many oci castons. On a trial, under such cir- , cumstancs, the time from the receipt of a call to the first machine arriving at the corner of Wilson and Wicks!ced Streets was one and a-half minutes. Split-second thinking and co- , ordination, perfect team work and a rapid summing up of (he situation by the superintendent and his officers, whose first duty is to determine where leads can be used to best advantage in a seemingly hopeless and confused . set of circumstances, are all the culmination of good organisation, . drill, discipline and living in a state of constant preparedness. Central Station goes to sleep with ’ one eye open- every night at. 10 o’clock, when the watchroom attendant, on duty from 8 p.m. till 8 am.. turns in on his camp <>( retcher alongside the alarm cabinet. Previously, however, there had been a general must or at 7.30 p.m. when each man

I Station alarm bells and lights, toI gether with the watchroom cabinet i are also tested at that hour. I In the married men’s quarters at Central Station, incidentally, there ; are 58 persons, firemen, their wives and children. They are all aware of a call in the middle of the night because lights automatically come on in the flats when the watchroom attendant throws over the triple switch. Premonition, or instinct, must also , play a part in the life of a fireman. Cases have been known of a man awaking a split se.ond before the alarm bells started clanging. One night, an officer's wife woke and heard the shutter drop in the watchroom cabinet, a flash of time before the alarm broke into life. First machine out is a Dennis motor pump capable of pumping 600 gallons of water a minute, and with 2600 feet of canvas hose in its lockers ready for use. Bucket pumps, a St. John Ambulance kit. respirators, rubber and asbestos gloves, a jumping sheet, a 35ft. extension ladder, and lowering lines for the rescue of people from buildings, are included in the 80 individual items of equipment carried on this machine. A heavy-duty unit, with a capacity of 800 gallons of water a minute is the next machine to .urn out from Central. It carries 3100 feet of canvas hoce of all sizes and the same equipment as the other moi or equipment. for dealing with every type of fire imaginable. While those two ma hinos are absent another is standing by at Central in case a further call is received. A 60ft. manually-operated extens’en ladder is also ready for use. If the fire in the city is “showing up” as the machine from Castlecliff is coming in. it goes direct tc the outb:oai<: jtherwise this unit also stands by at Central. In charge of the brigade is Superintendent W. W. Brown, who started his fire-liehting career with the' Christchurch Brigade 29 veins ago. I ' His deputy is Mr. C. F. Ross, who. drove a horse-driven fire engine in j 'Dunedin 26 years ago. and ’he third i officer is Mr. E. C. Smith. Other officers at Central S nt ion. which lies a total permanent staff of 19 (including officers) are For.'men C. W. ; Stevenson and J. Phillips. I Also at the station are eight auxiliary firemen. who shop on the I premises, but follow outside occupations in the daytime. In the event ' 1 of a major fire whi h creates a heavy demand on men and eouinment. the brigade calls on nine outs’de auxiliaries who live away from the premises. Much more could be written about the Wanganui Fire Brigade, but in (losing we dedicate this slow to the, officers and men of an off* ci ent and I very rooersary city sotv'.v whieb an- ■ parontly sleeps at night, but is always I