###### *The President's Conference on*

**FIRE**

**PREVENTION**

![](media/image1.png){width="1.7020833333333334in"
height="1.6736111111111112in"}

***Report of Committee on***

#### Firefighting Services

Departmental Auditorium

Washington, D.C.

##### May 6,7, and 8, 1947

> *"The serious losses in life and property resulting*
>
> *annually from fires cause me deep concern. I am*
>
> *sure that such unnecessary waste can be reduced.*
>
> *The substantial progress made in the science of fire*

####### prevention and fire protection in this country during

> *the past forty years convinces me that the means are*
>
> *available for limiting this unnecessary destruction."*

######## Harry S. Truman

**CONTENTS**

> **Page**

Administration, Personnel, and Equipment 1

Fire Prevention by the Fire Department 10

Firemen's Training 16

Farm and Rural Firefighting Services 23

Forest Fire Services 27

######### Volunteer Fire Departments 28

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
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REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FIREFIGHTING SERVICES

**[ADMINISTRATION, PERSONNEL, AND EQUIPMENT]{.underline}**

Annually there are over 800,000 fires in the United States. Fire
departments answer more than a million alarms in all. In addition to the
fires in buildings are those brush, grass, rubbish, boats, automobiles,
and other vehicles. There are also numerous calls for rescue work and
special services.

There are approximately 1,000 fire departments manned by fully paid
professional firemen, and at least 15,000 others that are part-paid and
volunteer.

Fire departments for the most part are operated by municipalities and
are supported principally by taxes on real estate. Fire department
expenditures in cities of over 10,000 population were \$3.69 per capita
in 1946.

***Support for the Fire Services.*** -- Cities are currently seeking new
sources of revenue to pay the costs of municipal government, including
the costs of fire departments. The cost of living is forcing salaries
higher; the cost of firefighting apparatus, hose, and equipment is
increasing. Cities will be forced in the immediate future to consider
every possible economy of operation in the fire department, consistent
with an adequate fire defense.

Systems of charges may be employed when a city gives fire department
services to unprotected suburbs. In almost all cases, municipalities
provide a degree of firefighting service for surrounding territory from
which the municipal fire department receives no tax support.

Integration of fire services has received some attention in connection
with the problem of fire-defense organization in wartime. No program to
bring about such integration has been effectively advanced, and there is
likely to be strong opposition from municipalities, which do not want to
lose control of a local service.

By such integration there is a possibility of securing fire services
better adapted to the areas served; resulting economies are possible;
and a better career service for professional firemen might also be
provided.

Another approach is to shift more of the burden of fire protection from
the public firefighting service to private property. The best protection
is that which is built into the building through good design. To name a
few items of protection, we have automatic sprinkler systems; automatic
fire detection systems supervised by central stations; fire walls; fire
doors; stair enclosures, and watertight floors. The provision of private
protection is fairest to all concerned, because each property thus pays
its way according to its fire protection demands.

***Fire Insurance and Municipal Fire Protection.*** -- Through State and
regional rating bureaus, the National Board of Fire Underwriters, or
other organizations, insurance companies maintain an engineering service
that is available for advice on improving a municipality's fire
defenses. These insurance engineering services have effectively
encouraged cities to maintain strong, reliable water supplies and have
promoted good fire departments and other features of municipal fire
defenses. They grade municipal fire defenses, including fire
departments, according to the Standard Grading Schedule of National
Board of Fire Underwriters. This rating affects fire insurance rates in
most parts of the country, and provides an incentive to the city to
improve its major items of defense. Fire prevention work by fire
departments may, under the grading schedule, affect grading relatively
little.

***The Fire Department as a Career Service.*** -- The majority of fire
departments are small, numbering 20 men or fewer. Frequently it is only
in large cities that a real career service is offered in the fire
department. At present, a man can ordinarily advance only within the
department he joins. This is most serious, resulting in the quality of
chief officers being fixed, because a city ordinarily does not go
outside its own department for new men or officers. A superior fire
officer must have very diversified knowledge, much of which is
technical. Many officers have become proficient through their own
exceptional efforts.

Part of the difficulty is due to a provincial attitude taken by the
people of a local community. Of more practical importance is the fact
that each city and town has its own salary scale, pension plan, and
other benefits that are purely local. A man cannot be brought in without
some unfairness to present members of the department; a man cannot leave
without some sacrifice of seniority or pension rights.

One method that has been suggested for dealing with this situation is to
set up a Statewide system of civil service and pension administration
for fire departments. There is an observable trend in that direction.
Another suggested method of providing a career service is to integrate
fire departments into single services, operated under the auspices of
counties or metropolitan fire districts. This can be accomplished
without necessarily following county, metropolitan or State limitations
in the formation of such integrated departments; but the objective
should be to avoid their becoming top-heavy in an administrative sense.
Britain had experience with a wartime National Fire Service. Four
Australian States have fire departments that cover their entire State.
The smallest, South Australia, has 125 full-paid and 77 part-paid men;
the largest, New South Wales, 842 full-paid and 3,139 part-paid men.

***Personnel Administration**.* - A substantial number of cities
administer matters of recruitment and promotion through a personnel
agency, usually a civil-service commission. These commissions enforce
suitable standards for heights, weight, age, and moral character for new
recruits and establish lines of promotion based on seniority, merit, and
examination. While these civil-service commissions are not without their
limitations, they offer the best method so far devised to secure fair
treatment of men. The principal need is for improvement of the standards
they administer.

A basis for personnel administration within a department is often
established by a written set of standards for the conduct and action of
men and officers. Fire departments should make wider use of such written
standards as guide books covering discipline, care of houses and
equipment, general rules of action in administrative matters, and in
response and operation at fires. The principal difficulties with such
standards are that they are kept up-to-date and that amendments are
allowed to become established by custom or usage.

***Salaries and Pensions.*** -- There is a wide difference in the scales
of salaries paid to fire department members. Some variation is of course
due to local living conditions, but on the average, salaries are too low
for the type of men and services required.

Pension plans are desirable for all occupations. For the fire department
they are particularly important, because they should operate to enable
men to retire when they have reached an age beyond which firefighting
duty becomes too difficult or dangerous for them. The lack of a
satisfactory pension system results in a situation observable in too
many fire departments, namely, that the average age of the men is
unreasonably high.

***Management Requirements of Fire Companies.*** - The number of men
required depends on the number of fire companies to be operated, plus
sufficient men for fire prevention work, training, maintenance, and
other activities of the department. The number is also affected by the
arrangement of shifts and the total hours worked by the men.

The first step in appraising fire department protection in a given city
is to determine the number of fire companies needed. The number of men
follows from the number of companies and the kind of work they do. The
principal units are engine (or pumper) companies, ladder companies, and
special companies for salvage and rescue work. Many departments are
being called on more and more for special services, particularly
companies to man rescue and other emergency equipment, and many fire
departments give ambulance service.

In a given city, it can usually be determined whether there are too many
or too few companies, but it is not possible to generalize. Similarly,
the number of men needed for any given fire company can be determined by
studying the work required of that company; but it is not possible to
say that four-man, five-man, or larger companies should be the rule.

Economics in the operation of fire departments should be sought only
after careful study of the number of companies required.

A city need not be baffled by the problem of securing manpower for the
full number of companies it requires. The city should man as many of the
required companies as possible with full-paid personnel. For the other
companies, manpower may be supplemented by an auxiliary force of trained
and disciplined part-time men. Such a program may be especially helpful
in cities of less than 30,000 population.

***Working Hours.*** - The fire department is a round-the-clock, 24-hour
service. The total number of hours worked depends on the arrangement of
shifts. The trend is toward shorter workweeks. This is affecting the
cost of fire departments by increasing the total number of men required
to man the fire companies.

A fire department that puts into effect a shorter workweek, the
three-platoon or similar system, must add men if the same number of
companies is to be manned. Unless men are added, the number of companies
must be reduced or the manning per company must be reduced. Companies
with too few men are not able to give efficient service.

It has long been against the rules of many full-paid departments for
firemen to hold other part-time jobs while off duty; but often these
rules have not been enforced. During the war, firemen made a worthwhile
contribution by working, off duty, in war plants. The war needs no
longer exist, and the practice should now be stopped.

***Apparatus and Equipment.*** - Much apparatus, such as pumpers and
ladder trucks, is old and needs replacement. Apparatus manufacturers are
busy with replacements, the ordering of which was held up by the war. It
is likely to be some time before manufacturers can meet these needs.

Practices of some fire departments are slowing up fire apparatus
replacements. While there are some differences in apparatus made
necessary by climate and topography, there is little reason why pumper
and ladder trucks should not be of standard design in all cities.
Apparatus specifications usually differ in minor details of body
dimensions, arrangement, and equipment. These variations unnecessarily
increase cost and delay deliveries.

We urge fire departments that want prompt delivery and a fair price to
base their specifications on the specifications for automobile fire
apparatus prepared by the Committee on Municipal Fire Apparatus of the
National Fire Protection Association or recommended by the National
Board of Fire Underwriters. These specifications have been circulated to
cities by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. We also recommend that these
specifications be brought up-to-date at the earliest possible moment.
Work on a revised set of specifications has recently been done jointly
by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Board
of Fire Underwriters. These will shortly be distributed to the fire
service.

There is also a national standard for fire hose, prepared by the
National Fire Protection Association, the American Society for Testing
Materials, and other bodies, under procedures of the American Standards
Association. The most useful form of this standard is one provided by
Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc., which will act as the inspection and
testing agency for a municipality on hose purchases. Standardization of
hose threads on hose couplings and hydrants also merits continued
attention.

***An Apparatus Replacement Program.*** - Only a few departments have an
apparatus replacement program that is adhered to, and many now find
themselves with outmoded apparatus, a condition aggravated by the
difficulty of getting apparatus built during the recent war years.

In spite of relatively little mileage traveled, automobile fire
apparatus does wear out, because of conditions of service different from
that of automobiles in ordinary trucking service. Wear on motors is
accelerated by frequent cold starting and by long periods of pumping
with motors operating near top capacity.

The life of fire apparatus is also affected by developments in other
automotive equipment. It is outmoded when it reaches an age when it
cannot compete (in acceleration and stopping, for example) with other
motor vehicles on city streets or country roads. Much of the fire
apparatus in use today was built in the period before the development of
heavy-duty automobile trucks and is now obsolete. We urge city fire
departments to get their city councils or governing boards to approve a
continuous program for the retirement of old apparatus and for its
replacement.

Because of delay in delivery of about 2 years on some items,
particularly pumpers and ladder trucks, some fire departments may wish
to see whether they can get fire apparatus which was bought for military
needs, and which may be declared surplus by the War and Navy
Departments.

***Improved Firefighting Methods.*** - The fundamental techniques of
fire fighting are the same today as they have been for some time. They
principally involve putting water on a fire. Fog nozzles and small hose
lines are coming into wider use, and wetting agents (advocated to make
more effective use of water) have received publicity. There is an
unfortunate tendency for some salesmen and fire departments to become
enthusiasts for one technique or improvement. The hard facts are that
each of the items is useful, but is not in any sense a cure-all.

Regarding hose lines, it is more a matter of choosing the size of hose
and nozzle tip that is right for the particular firefighting job, than
it is to say that all fire departments should use large lines, small
lines, large nozzle tips, small nozzle tips, fog nozzles, or other
equipment. The same comment applies to various chemical equipment: foam,
carbon tetrachloride, and carbon dioxide.

None of these items of special equipment are revolutionary in the sense
that they permit general abandonment of conventional firefighting
techniques. All are important and each may furnish the firefighter with
a real advantage in dealing with some particular fire situation. In
general, fire departments cannot take full advantage of a large number
of special items of equipment and useful appliances, because of cost
involved.

Competent firemen agree that the way to fight a fire is to get inside
the building, find the fire, and get water on it. When an alarm is
delayed, or the building is of excessive height or area, or the material
burning radiates heat that will not allow close approach, the fire
department must mass hose streams. This situation points to the
importance of measures for reducing the height and area of buildings,
and for requiring automatic sprinkler protection when the total amount
of combustible materials is so great that it is otherwise impossible for
firefighters to get water on the fire.

Fire departments often have to fight inside buildings under great
difficulties. This task requires training, because under normal working
conditions a fireman obtains real firefighting experience only at
difficult fires.

***Salvage Operations.*** - The number of fire departments that do
salvage operations is increasing. These operations require special
equipment and special training. The operations involve the spreading of
waterproof covers, removing water used in firefighting promptly, and
otherwise protecting against unnecessary water damage. Training salvage
operations is carried on in most firemen's training programs, and there
is wide acceptance of the idea. There area a number of large cities
where salvage work is not performed by the fire department, and in the
country as a whole, there is room for considerable improvement in
salvage operations.

***Perfire Planning.*** - Firemen cannot depend on experience alone in
firefighting operations. An increasing number of fire departments are
resorting to prefire planning of operations at all buildings in the
city. Chief officers in most departments are expected to have worked out
in their minds the methods to be followed in an attack on a fire in any
building, and they supplement this preplanning with actual knowledge of
buildings through inspections. Some departments carry it further by
sending out entire assignments to a given building, where both officers
and men go over the fire possibilities and figure out just where
apparatus will be placed, just where entry can be made, where
ventilation can be carried out, and what water supplies and private fire
protection are available to assist their operations.

These procedures are entirely feasible and will help to prevent
disastrous fires by uncovering conditions that make the fighting of the
fire impossible. Once brought to light, something may be done to remedy
these situations; but they are usually brought to light only by a fire
disaster. The Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta is a good example of this
sort of situation.

***A Proving Ground Needed.*** - Fire departments are alert to the
possibility to improving apparatus and equipment. Our Committee adopted
a motion that the Conference consider proposing that the Federal
government, as a civil defense measure, be authorized to establish a
proving ground and a technical and research laboratory available to the
various fire departments, with personnel for the operation of this
proving ground and laboratory to be recruited from the fire protection
profession.

***Water Supply.*** - Most cities provide water for fire protection
purposes from their domestic water distribution system. A few of the
larger cities also have installed a high-pressure system for fire
protection to congested, high-value areas only, with a separate system
of mains and pumps.

Domestic water distribution systems should provide quantities of water
for fire protection in addition to that supplied for domestic
consumption. The amount of water necessary for fire flow depends upon
the height, area, type of construction and occupancy, congestion and
hazards of the buildings in a particular section, and its determination
is largely a matter of judgment and experience. The grading schedule of
the National Board sets up a basis for determining the fire flow
necessary in high-value districts of cities of various populations.

When a municipality has no domestic water supply system, it must depend
on pumpers taking suction from any available water, such as rivers,
pounds, and wells. The municipality should make a study of such
available sources of water, and provide roads and other facilities for
pumpers to reach and pump from such sources without becoming mired.
Sometimes even a small brook can be dammed to provide a pool, or to flow
into an open concrete tank, from which pumpers may draft.

During the war, many water system improvements were deferred, and for
some time water utilities will be busy catching up with extensions and
also major improvements.

A plan frequently followed at industrial plants is to store quantities
of water close to the buildings to be protected. The idea is that, in
case of fire, the water will be right there ready for use. Such storages
are for firefighting purposes only and thus are independent of the
public water supply. The plan came into use because of the unreliability
of the public supply.

War experience demonstrated the need of local storage of water for
firefighting. In England and Germany, ground storage tanks or reservoirs
were provided in each block in a city. Firefighting water was taken from
these storage tanks by fire department pumpers.

Technical bodies should review the traditional principles of water
supply design in the light of war experience.

***Preparedness for Disasters.*** - Fire departments are one of the
first services called for all sorts of emergencies. At times they have
had to deal also with major disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, and
earthquakes. During the war, civil defense planning caused some
attention to be given to plans for dealing with major disasters. Few of
these are currently in force. A few cities maintain active agencies that
plan operations to cope with a disaster; but the great majority have no
such plans at all, so far as the fire department is concerned.

Fire departments have given little study to the lessons of the war
destruction, by fires, of cities in Germany and Japan. The war has been
over for 2 years; but no advice has yet come to fire departments from
the War Department to indicate what sort of situations may be expected
from a sneak atom-bomb, incendiary, or biochemical attack on our cities.
Fire departments would welcome guidance about this.

***Fire Department Communications.*** - Delayed alarms are an important
factor in fire loss and show up conspicuously among the factors
responsible for the largest fires. Consequently, the facilities for fire
alarms and for communication within a fire department are important.

The principal requirements of fire department communications are (1)
means of promptly receiving calls for fires and other emergencies, and
(2) intercommunication between units, particularly between fire alarm
headquarters and fire companies.

***Present Public Fire Alarms.*** - The conventional fire alarm system
comprises street fire alarm boxes connected electrically to a central
fire alarm headquarters. A few cities have boxes well distributed, so
that in any part of the city a box can be found within reasonable
distance; others have fair box distribution in central districts only.

Fire alarms are sent principally by telephone. The telephone companies
do not assume responsibility for fire alarm service, and there are
obvious limitations to full dependence on telephones.

Standards for municipal fire alarm systems have been developed by the
signaling committee of the National Fire Protection Association and have
promulgated by the National Board of Fire underwriters. These standards
outline the features necessary in public fire alarm systems. They call
for facilities that provide the general public with a means of calling
the fire department promptly and that are dependable, in the sense that
they are free from many of the limitations of telephones. These standard
systems, where incomplete, should be extended. Public fire alarm systems
are appropriate for many small communities that to date have been
dependent on telephone service.

***Radio.*** - Radio has two fundamental uses in fire department
communications: (1) between mobile equipment and headquarters, and (2)
for point-to-point service where wire service is impractical. Radio is
being increasingly used by the installation of 2-way sets on chiefs'
cars and on all pieces of fire apparatus. Radio is particularly useful
for volunteer fire services, where a central radio headquarters may be
set up to control fire apparatus in a rural or forest territory.

Radio is not intended to replace wired fire alarm systems and fills only
one of the two fire department requirements on communications: that of
intercommunication between units; and it is not wholly a substitute in
this respect for wired systems. No radio development is in sight that
will provide for the reporting of fires by citizens; so the
installation, extension, or replacement of wired systems should not be
deferred in anticipation of a radio system of reporting.

The following radio frequencies are now available to municipal fire
departments: 12 channels in the 152-162 megacycle band, 12 channels in
the 72-76 megacycle band, and 15 channels in the 30-40 megacycle band.
These have only recently become available; the number of radio-equipped
fire departments is still small.

In the allocations, channels have been reserved for the exclusive use of
short-range walkie-talkie units or pack set radios, so that if they are
used on large or simultaneous fires they will not in any way interfere
with the regular land-station-to-mobile-radio service.

The Federal Communications Commission has fixed July 1, 1950, as the
date when all municipal fire departments shall be established in the 152
megacycle band and shall shift from existing channels, unless a
municipality or fire department can make a factual showing of the need
for some other frequency.

The 72-76 megacycle and the 30-40 megacycle channels will then be left
open for county operation, or for the radio services required by
volunteer departments that set up their mutual aid districts or areas
covering a combination of volunteer departments.

***Private Fire Alarm Systems.*** - Fire departments have long
encouraged private fire alarm systems in buildings. With facilities
provided in buildings, either for automatic detection of fires or for
manual transmission of alarms, there would be fewer delayed alarms that
contribute to life and property loss by fire.

The best private fire alarm service is provided by a private central
station system under contract with a private company, which not only
installs the system but maintains, inspects, and supervises fire alarm,
burglar alarm, and similar services.

There are practical reasons why private fire alarm systems are not
generally connected to public fire alarm systems. Public fire alarm
systems can handle private alarm systems directly connected to them if
there are only a few connections; a number of small cities permit them.
To give such service, large cities find that they have to provide
maintenance and supervision in private properties, and usually they
prefer not to do it in competition with existing private companies.

***[Recommendations on Administration, Personnel, and
Equipment]{.underline}***

1.  That fire departments be regarded as fire prevention as well as
    firefighting agencies and that substantial parts of their budgets be
    devoted to fire prevention activities.

2.  That ways be explored for meeting the increasing cost a of fire
    departments.

3.  That insurance rating agencies review their gradings of cities to
    see whether it is possible to provide additional incentives for fire
    prevention work by fire departments.

4.  That ways be explored to remove obstacles that keep the fire
    department from being a desirable career service, particularly the
    provincial attitude of cities that prevents men from advancing
    except in their own small departments; and that the integration of
    small fire departments into units large enough to provide such a
    service be studied.

5.  That economies in fire departments be sought only after careful
    study. The approach recommended is that the number of fire companies
    required be established; that manpower be determined by the needs of
    the companies plus additional personnel for fire prevention bureaus,
    training, maintenance, and administration; and that trained
    part-time firemen be used to supplement fully paid personnel, when
    total manpower needs exceed what the fire department has funds to
    provide on a fully paid basis.

6.  That replacement of fire apparatus be accelerated; that all fire
    departments adopt orderly programs for its replacement; that
    purchase shall follow standard specifications; that the program
    include special equipment for technical applications, including
    modern breathing apparatus, fog, foam, carbon dioxide, and other
    chemical equipment; that efforts to achieve wider standardization of
    threads on hose couplings and hydrants be continued; that better
    apparatus and techniques be developed by research; and that a
    national proving ground and laboratory be set up for the purpose.

7.  That fire departments study the operations they are likely to have
    to perform in fighting fires in all large properties, and thus bring
    to light, before a fire, the factors that might contribute to life
    or property loss.

8.  That traditional design of public water systems for fire protection
    be reviewed in the light of war experience.

9.  That disaster plans be developed in all areas to cover fire
    department operations, and that the War Department be asked to
    furnish guidance regarding fire department requirements in event of
    sneak atom-bomb, incendiary, or biochemical attack.

10. That public fire alarm systems, where incomplete, be extended, and
    that they be provided where they are lacking in all communities.

11. That radio be used where appropriate to supplement wired
    intercommunication systems in fire departments and for rural areas
    where wired service is impractical; and that advantage be taken of
    frequencies now available for such service.

> **[FIRE PREVENTION BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT]{.underline}**

Traditionally, fire departments have been considered as firefighting
organizations; but today fire departments are recognized as agencies
seeking to prevent fires as well as extinguish them. A fire prevented is
better than one extinguished. Fire prevention work by fire departments
is prompted by the lively concern firemen have for avoiding unnecessary
loss of life.

These fire prevention activities are not complex. First, there is a
system of inspections. Second, educational campaigns are promoted to
encourage sane and safe practices. Finally, for persons who will not
voluntarily cooperate, public safety laws are enforced and fires are
investigated.

***Inspection Work.*** - It has long been customary for fire companies
in many cities to make fire prevention inspections. The practice is by
no means general, and it could, with profit, be more widely observed.
Present inspection work is often haphazardly and indifferently
performed.

In cities that do an effective inspection job, each firefighting company
is required to do such inspections. A common objective is to inspect all
buildings in a company district four times a year. In a city of 100,000
population, a representative fire company might have in its district
3,500 families in 1,600 dwelling units; 250 small stores and shops; and
about 100 large properties, such as industrial plants, warehouses, and
public buildings. These figures are helpful in visualizing the job of
inspection done by a fire company.

The company inspections are limited usually to common fire hazards and
details of maintenance of private fire equipment. The company inspectors
report through channels to headquarters, where a fire prevention bureau
or chief officer follows them up.

A common operating routine is to assign one man per day to inspection
work. The total volume of fire prevention work done, including public
relations, depends on the extent to which members of fire companies are
expected to get out and make public contacts.

***Educational Campaigns.*** - Fire prevention work is futile, unless
all persons are informed about fire safety and are interested enough in
it to be willing to take advice in fire matters and to obey fire laws.

Public education by fire departments is handled by the fire chief, by a
fire prevention bureau, or in a few cases by a fire department bureau of
public relations. Here are a few of the approaches used in educational
campaigns.

Of principal importance, most fire departments hold, is work with school
children. A number of departments have had success by assigning one or
more officers to devote full time to fire prevention work with children.
The children's programs include poster and essay contests, school and
home inspections by children, demonstrations, plays, parties, visit fire
stations, and a wide variety of activities to promote interest and
understanding of fire safety by children.

Seasonal campaigns mark the year-round educational programs of fire
departments. Fire Prevention Week in October is almost universally
observed by cities under fire department sponsorship. A Spring Clean-Up
Week is similarly observed in many communities. Special efforts are made
at Christmas and on the Forth of July. At Christmas, safe handling of
decorations and Christmas trees in stores and homes is encouraged. On
the Fourth of July, children are directed to safe celebrations, public
fireworks displays often being featured to keep fireworks out of the
hands of small children.

An annual inspection of dwellings is made by many departments, the
firemen in some cases contributing a part of their off-time for the
purpose. Cooperation by house occupants is voluntary, and the services
of the fire department in this sort of campaign are universally
welcomed.

More and more fire departments are using the press and radio for
education. Both newspapers and radio stations have been ready to use
competently prepared material.

Educational work is tied together in most cities through a fire
prevention committee, usually sponsored by the local Chamber of
Commerce. A few cities have created fire prevention committees by city
ordinance. One such is Dallas, Tex. Fire chiefs usually serve as members
of such committees. Often they are asked to serve as chairmen; but this
course is not favored, as the chief can do nothing as chairman of such a
committee that he cannot do in his official position. The fire
prevention committee can be used to provide a force, outside of
politics, to secure public cooperation.

***Law Enforcement.*** -- The legal authority of fire departments is
derived from various State laws and city ordinances. Of these, the city
charter is important, as it defines the general authority of the city to
operate a fire department and establishes the general responsibility of
the fire department for fire prevention week. This basic authority is
most valuable. Many fire chiefs and fire prevention officers do not
fully appreciate the relatively strong position they are in by reason of
their responsibility for the public safety in fire matters. It is this
broad general authority on which the fire department has to fall back,
when it enforces orders, under the general police power, covering
matters on which there are no detailed ordinances, or when it deals with
situations that must be declared public nuisances.

***The State Fire Marshal.*** - In most States, the authority for fire
prevention work, as distinct from the ordinary operation of a fire
department, comes from a State fire marshal law. A common provision of
the State fire marshal law is that the local fire chief is ex officio a
deputy or assistant State fire marshal. In cities protected by volunteer
and part-paid fire departments or those that do not have adequate fire
prevention personnel, the State fire marshal's office virtually provides
them with many fire prevention bureau services. A number of State fire
marshals also perform technical services, such as maintaining a
laboratory and providing special experts who may be called on by the
local fire department. The local fire department is usually pleased to
have such support from a State agency that may be independent of local
politics.

***Fire Prevention Ordinances.*** - We urge cities that do not have such
an ordinance to adopt the recommended ordinance creating a fire
prevention bureau, a model form of which is recommended and circulated
by the National Fire Protection Association and the National Board of
Fire Underwriters. A great many cities have such an ordinance.

There are a wide variety of laws dealing with fire hazard and fire
protection matters, which are discussed in the report to the conference
on laws and law enforcement. It is desirable, in any city, to assemble
in a single compilation all of the laws to be administered by the fire
department. This is usually referred to as a fire prevention code.
During the last 15 years, a good many cities have adopted comprehensive
codes, the general features of which are similar to those in the
recommended fire prevention code circulated by the National Board of
Fire Underwriters.

***The Fire Prevention Bureau.*** - Many fire departments established a
fire prevention bureau at the time that one man at the headquarters was
assigned to full-time work on fire prevention inspection. His first
duties, of course, were to follow up the work of inspection done by
various fire companies of the department.

This Committee considers the proper place for a fire prevention bureau
to be in the fire department, directly under the chief of the
department. This is the pattern followed in the majority of cities.

The scope of the work of a fire prevention bureau includes all sorts of
inspection tasks. In addition to routine inspections and to following up
the work of fire companies, inspection work that is difficult or time
consuming is usually handled by the bureau. Inspections of a highly
technical nature are necessarily made by the bureau.

In addition, the fire prevention bureau handles complaints, and it must
be able to solve specific problems referred to it. It often maintains
certain technical services, occasionally a laboratory or photographic
department. At present, most bureaus are not equipped to give citizens
comprehensive fire protection advice; but the day is approaching when
they will be able to do this.

***Relationship of the Bureau to Other Agencies.*** - The bureau handles
points of contact with other inspection agencies. The work of the bureau
may bring it in contact with public jurisdictions, such as those of
State fire marshals, State labor departments, tenement-house commissions
and the like. It may deal with certain Federal regulatory bodies like
the Bureau of Marine Inspection and the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The bureau is a logical channel for such contacts.

It shares a place in the city government with departments for building,
electrical, plumbing, health, boiler, elevator, and other inspections.
There is some overlapping of jurisdictions, particularly between the
building department and the fire prevention bureau. There is need for a
clear line of demarcation between the area of inspection covered by
each. In general, building departments should be expected to handle new
building construction and related matters of structural soundness. Fire
departments should handle matters where maintenance is involved, where
private fire protection equipment is installed, and where there are
features of storage, manufacturing processes, or hazards to life
involved that are peculiar to the occupancy rather than to the building
structure.

In any case, the important thing is for a clear division of operations,
with close coordination between the fire prevention bureau and building
department. Some cities place a fire department officer at the building
department to review plans for the fire department. Another scheme
requires all permits, licenses, and approvals to be applied for at one
municipal office, which then sees that the fire, building, and other
departments make the necessary reviews or inspections.

For large properties, the owner may be getting recommendations for
improvement of fire safety from the fire prevention bureau, insurance
engineers, and others. The fire prevention bureau should encourage these
and other agencies to consult one another, so that an owner will get the
best advice and not be confused by recommendations that differ in
details.

***Industrial Fire Protection.*** - The fire prevention bureau, as
already mentioned, handles educational and public relations work for the
department. One of its task is to keep in touch with the heads of the
safety and fire protection departments in industrial plants within the
city. The bureau lends support to the fire protection man, to see that
details of plant protection are carried out. Perhaps more important, the
fire department serves as a clearinghouse for helpful suggestions on
fire protection procedures and practices in industrial plants.

***Bureau Personnel.*** - The best features of existing fire prevention
bureaus have been described by the foregoing. In the average city, the
fire prevention bureau consists merely of a staff of inspectors. In too
many fire departments, personnel for the fire prevention bureau is
selected from among the physically handicapped members of the
department. This is a practice very detrimental to effective work. Few
fire departments that have fire prevention bureaus use them to the best
advantage. Men are assigned to do inspection work with little natural
ability for it and with a definite lack of training and experience.

There is need for a better selection of personnel for fire prevention
bureau staffs. In general, the men should be chosen for the work from
the younger firemen who have the best educational background. Some men
with engineering education and experience are needed on the staffs of
fire prevention bureaus. In some cases, fire protection engineers have
been developed from among the fire department members, but this has
occurred so infrequently as to suggest that one of the major problems in
fire prevention bureau operation is to set up conditions that will
attract persons with adequate technical education to the fire
department, for eventual employment in the bureau.

Fire departments may be able to develop fairly satisfactory inspectors
through training courses. At present such training courses are very few,
and it could be recommended that State fire marshals' departments, in
cooperation with the firemen's training program of the State and cities,
set up courses of instruction that would help to develop inspector
talent.

***Routine Investigation of Fires.*** -- Quite apart from the business
of running down the crime of arson, the routine investigation of fire is
the most effective single item of fire prevention work that can be
performed by a fire department. Most departments make routine reports on
fires, consisting, in the poorest grade of department, of simple entries
in a fire record journal.

Investigation of fires, as a fire prevention measure, includes bringing
home to citizens their responsibility for allowing a fire to start. This
responsibility is too often obscured by the fact that a person suffering
a fire is indemnified for the physical losses by insurance. It has never
been customary in the United States to try to bring home to individuals
the fact that it is an offense against the public safety to have a fire,
even a so-called "accidental" one. In spite of this, there appears to be
no question that under our common law a person can be held liable for
damages to his neighbor's property from a fire that spreads from his own
premises, provided the fire was a result of his negligence or the
negligence of his servants.

***Effect of Over-Insurance and Over-adjustments.*** - The line between
an "accidental" fire and a deliberate fire is sometimes very hard to
draw. Close to a deliberate fire is one where the property owner is
provided with an incentive to be neglectful.

Some departments feel that much closer cooperation is needed from
various insurance people, if they are to keep fire losses at a low
figure. The investigation of fires, even where no actual arson is
involved, shows that to the extent that insurance companies allow
over-insurance or are careless or "soft" in the making of adjustments of
losses, frequent fires will be encouraged. Public adjusters, operating
on a commission basis, are most often complained of by fire departments
as a factor encouraging "over-adjustments."

***[Recommendations for Fire Prevention by the Fire
Department]{.underline}***

1.  That the objective of the fire prevention work of the fire
    department be to produce a situation where citizens are informed
    about fire safety and interested to the extent that they are willing
    to take advice on fire matters and observe laws enacted for their
    safety from fire; that in every city there be created a local fire
    prevention committee; that the fire department, through a bureau of
    public relations, or through a fire prevention bureau in the larger
    cities, provide facilities for education of the general public.

2.  That special attention be paid by fire departments to cooperating
    with school authorities in securing the interest of school children
    in fire safety; that, in large departments, a number of men
    especially chosen for the purpose be assigned to work with children
    and in the schools.

3.  That the fire departments proceed to secure public cooperation by
    inspection and educational activities, of which the following offer
    examples that have been effectively used and are being used by many
    progressive fire departments:

    a.  A larger total number of contacts with the public, through
        firemen doing inspection work on detail from the firefighting
        companies.

    b.  More effective seasonal fire prevention campaigns, including
        better programs during Fire Prevention Week, Clean-Up Week,
        Christmas, and Fourth of July periods; supplemented by campaigns
        against any local situation, such as rubbish and grass fires,
        the number of which may be excessive due to lack of public
        cooperation or to failure to enforce laws.

    c.  An annual dwelling house inspection campaign, partly for
        inspection purposes, principally to seek public interest and
        support of fire prevention.

    d.  Promotion of self-inspection work and training in the use of
        first-aid appliances by employees of business concerns and the
        occupants of building; the organization of private fire brigades
        and fire safety organizations in industrial plants, mercantile
        properties, institutions, and elsewhere as may be appropriate.

4.  That all fires be thoroughly investigated to establish the idea of
    personal responsibility for fire prevention and to bring to the
    attention of insurance agents and adjusters cases where
    over-insurance or "soft" adjustments of losses may tend to encourage
    an attitude of carelessness or indifference of fire in any
    individual property owner.

5.  That all members of the fire department receive training in fire
    prevention work and be expected to promote fire prevention; that a
    portion of the permanent staff of every fire department be assigned
    full-time to fire prevention activities, in large departments
    through the creation of a fire prevention bureau; that the younger,
    better educated members of the department be chosen for such work
    and specially trained for it; that the qualifications of members of
    the bureau be constantly broadened until these may provide a place
    where a citizen may go for comprehensive fire prevention advice.

6.  That the fire prevention work of the department be clearly defined
    by an ordinance creating a fire prevention bureau or by a similar
    legislation; that all municipal fire prevention ordinances be
    compiled in a single volume to be known as the Fire Prevention Code;
    that the Fire Prevention Code be kept as complete and up-to-date as
    possible.

7.  That the fire prevention bureau be a division of the fire department
    under the chief of department so that the chief may properly
    coordinate all fire prevention activities of the department; that
    the functions of the bureau be clearly designated, to avoid as far
    as possible overlap or conflict with building departments and other
    city departments, fire prevention bureaus being assigned to all work
    involving storage, manufacturing processes, or hazards to life
    peculiar to the occupancy, and to installation or maintenance of
    private fire protection equipment.

8.  That the few States not now having State fire marshals consider
    establishing such an officer or vesting fire marshal powers in some
    State official; that State fire marshal, through properly qualified
    staffs, provide fire prevention bureau service where it is not
    provided by fire departments; that State fire marshals provide
    various technical services (photography and laboratories) available
    to local fire departments; that State fire marshals provide
    facilities for assisting in the training of fire department
    personnel assigned to fire inspection and fire investigation work.

**[FIREMEN'S TRAINING]{.underline}**

Organized systematic training for firemen, starting with a few drill
schools in fire departments in the United States more than 60 years ago,
has made great advances in recent years. As early as 1914, the North
Carolina Firemen's Association began a training program at its meetings.
In 1916, the International Association of Fire Engineers (now the
International Association of Fire Chiefs) endorsed the principle of
firemen's training and in 1919 developed a suggested set of standard
fire department drill evolutions.

By 1925 the first 3-day course for firemen was held at the Universities
of Illinois and Iowa. During this same period, a number of progressive
insurance inspection bureaus in middle western States added itinerant
instructors to their staffs. About this time, the short courses were
also given support by a Fire Service Extension Committee of the Fire
Waste Council of the United States Chamber of Commerce.

The short courses, so-called State "fire school" and "fire colleges,"
were often an outgrowth of fire association and fire chiefs' meetings.
They have since become a feature of training in at least 25 States. In
the early fire schools or colleges, which were usually operated once
each year for a period of 3 to 5 days, demonstrations with apparatus
were conducted and lectures were given. Although some of the more
progressive members of small town and village fire departments sought
admission to drill schools located in the larger nearby cities, the fire
colleges were about the only source of help then available to volunteer
firemen and members of small departments.

The Fire Department Instructors' Conference, sponsored by the Fire
Prevention Department, Western Actuarial Bureau, and the Memphis Fire
Department, has been an important influence since 1927, and still is. At
about the same time, in 1930, firemen's training had achieved enough
importance to be given attention by the U.S. Office of Education in
cooperation with State vocational educational offices, many of which
took a prominent part in early State programs.

The entrance of vocational education as an ally of the fire services
gave many programs a real lift, by providing funds and expert guidance
in developing instructors among the fire department personnel practicing
in training work, and in arranging the machinery of instruction. In 1937
in-service firemen's training was set up as an integral part of public
vocational education, and cooperative training programs were started in
22 States. For the year ended June 30, 1946, some 30 States had one or
more State vocational fire instructors; and 1,374 classes were conducted
in 780 locations. State training programs gave systematic, measured
instruction under competent educational auspices to some 30,000 firemen.

In 1939 the National Fire Protection Association made a survey that
traced the growing field of State training programs. Only half of the
cities of over 20,000 population had fire department training schools.
In 1941 the Firemen's Training Committee of the National Fire Protection
Association was organized. In 1946 a joint evolutions committee of
representatives of the Fire Department Instructors Conference, the
International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the N.F.P.A. Firemen's
Training Committee was organized.

During the war, the armed services provided training centers with
generous physical equipment for training personnel in the manipulative
operations of firefighting. At Coast Guard and Navy centers, the
facilities provided mock-ups of ships in which actual fires could be
attacked. This did much to add to the "training consciousness" of
firemen and should lead to continued demands for training programs in
fire departments. The same is true of industrial fire brigades, many of
which were organized and trained during World War II, and continue to
function as a necessary protective measure in peacetime.

Nearly every State has an organized firemen's training program, and the
immediate future for training is very good. In many States the programs
are being expanded. Some provide pre-entry instruction for students who
expect to enter the fire service. Certain institutions of higher
learning have provided well-equipped, permanent training centers.
Outstanding examples are at Oklahoma A. &M. College and the University
of Maryland.

***Changes in Working and Living Conditions.*** - When industrial and
living conditions were simpler, firemen learned through experience on
the job. Little attention was given to organized systematic training.
However, in recent years demands upon the fire service have made it
imperative that all members of fire departments be trained for their
work sufficiently to enable them to utilize the results of technical
progress. The more complicated living and working conditions become, the
more there is to know about fire prevention and firefighting.

There are over 80,000 professional paid firemen and an estimated 725,000
volunteer firemen in America. This makes a total of around 800,000
municipal firemen - that is, persons engaged in protecting cities,
towns, villages and small rural communities in which publicly operated
fire departments are maintained. However, this figure does not include
persons serving in private fire brigades.

According to a report compiled by the National Fire Protection
Association for the year ended June 30, 1946, only 30,000 firemen were
enrolled in systematic class instruction, not including large city
departments that operate their own training programs without outside
aid. Making ample allowance for numbers not counted in this survey,
there still remains a much too wide differential between the total
training program possible and the actual number of firemen now being
reached with organized systematic instruction. This means that in great
numbers of community centers, very little if any firemen's training is
going on.

***A New Concept of Firemen's Training.*** - Only a few years back, many
people, including leaders of the fire service, thought of operational
training - evolutions and drills with apparatus under a drillmaster - as
*the* training program for firemen.

There are three main parts of firemen's training:

1.  Basic and technical operational training for the rank-and-file men.

2.  Officers' training for those responsible from the administrative,
    managerial, and supervisory standpoints. Fire officers should be
    well beyond basic operational skill in connection with fire
    apparatus, which must be acquired by all rank-and-file firemen. The
    training of officers largely center around the further development
    of leadership ability, the satisfactory directing and handling of
    men, the organization of work of the department, and advanced
    technical firefighting problems.

3.  Instructor's and conference leader's training for those who teach or
    direct the learning activities of others. Teaching is a profession
    and a career. Just as there is a fund of information on the proper
    performance of fire evolutions, there is also a fund of information
    on sound instructional principles and procedures. These things are
    not peculiar to firefighting, but to teaching. A good fire
    instructor must be basically grounded in firemanship and must also
    be trained as a teacher.

The content of training courses designed for the upgrading and
improvement of persons under the three parts of the program just
mentioned is, of necessity, quite different. All training should be
designed to assist those interested in promotion and advancement.

> Informational teaching is never a satisfactory substitute for teaching
> that is organized and carried out in an on-the-job basis. There is no
> fully accurate way of measuring just how much a man knows about a
> given subject -- how much he recognizes, understands, or appreciates.
> In measuring "doing ability", however, a performance test will reveal
> whether or not the learner can do a job and how well he can do it.
>
> The need for continuing organized systematic training is clearly
> apparent to those who have thought the problem through. Firemen do not
> stray trained. Refresher and "brush-up" instruction is essential,
> therefore, from time to time, even for experienced men. New men who
> require training must be added to departments as others leave, and, as
> the years go by, there is a natural growth in diversity and scope of
> the activities engaged in by all firemen.

***Suggested Statewide Training Programs***

While no two States follow exactly the same pattern of development,
there are points of similarity in the programs now in operation in about
40 States. The units discussed in the paragraphs that follow appear in
various State programs and may well be considered in any Statewide plan
for firemen's training.

***Local Fire Department Training Programs.*** -- What local fire
departments both paid and volunteer do for themselves is the heart of
any Statewide program. Naturally, the size of the local department, the
personnel, equipment, apparatus, firefighting tactics and procedures
used, and the type of fire department organization are all factors to be
considered in determining the training program appropriate for a given
department. Every local department should go just as far as it can and
then secure such supplementary training assistance as may be necessary.

***Itinerant Instruction.*** - Itinerant instructors, such as are made
available through State boards for vocational education and other
agencies, travel over the State helping to plan local training programs,
offering certain phases of firemen's training themselves, coordinating
effort, and guiding further development. To the small outlying volunteer
department, this service has already been of great value and has
undoubtedly helped to advance training far more rapidly than would have
otherwise been the case. City departments might well make more use of
itinerant instructors.

***State Fire Schools (or Colleges).*** - These schools serve as
clearing houses on practices and procedures and help to keep firemen
up-to-date on new materials, equipment, and changes in fire prevention
or firefighting tactics. They also stimulate interest and encourage
firemen to put forth their best efforts. It should not be expected that
the total training responsibility for an entire State can be discharged
with a State fire school alone, however good it may be. Only a limited
number of men are thus reached for a week or less each year. However,
State fire schools serve to interest men in further training and
constitute an important unit in the total training.

***Officer Training Courses.*** - Far less has been done up to the
present in developing organized systematic training for officers of fire
departments than for the firemen themselves. Officer training needs a
great deal of emphasis in State programs. Otherwise, the hundreds of men
in departments who receive operational training are being given
advantages not available to persons with officer responsibilities. Once
established, officer schools can be operated on either a Statewide basis
or for subdivisions thereof. Some form of officer training is highly
desirable, and the scope of such training, based on actual needs, is
almost unlimited. Much of it should deal with the successful directing
and handling of men.

The basis of all officer training, as in the training of the
rank-and-file firemen, is the study of the actual duties,
responsibilities, and problems confronted by each individual in his
official capacity. More carefully made analysis are needed to reveal the
jobs and subjects in which officer training needs are the greatest. Both
prospective and present officers should be included in a training plan.

***Instructors Training Courses.*** - Every State needs a reservoir of
capable, trained fire instructors. If possible, these instructors should
be located in various parts of the State and be available to some extent
beyond the service areas of their own departments. The more firemen
there are in a State who are trained to teach, the more rapidly units
can be added in a Statewide training program and the more men can be
reached with a good quality of instruction.

Whenever the available supply of qualified fire instructors is a State
is low or becomes low, it is time to qualify other promising individuals
who are interested in becoming instructors. Periodically, there is need
also for "brush-up" and refresher courses for instructors already
qualified, especially when the original training was secured some time
ago.

***Suggested City Department Training Programs***

The units discussed in the paragraphs that follow appear in many city
programs and may well be considered by paid departments.

***Company Schools.*** - Organized systematic training, giving the
quickest results, starts with the men who actually answer the calls and
fight the fires as they occur. Such schools are ordinarily conducted
daily and weekly, for periods of varying length, by the officer in
charge of a company, or by designated instructors for a company. The
purpose is to perfect the proper handling of tools and apparatus.

There is still great opportunity for more interesting and challenging
instruction at the company level. Company schools can be carried on with
either of two attitudes apparent on the part of the personnel: the men
can go through their work in a perfunctory manner, complying with orders
but showing no special interest; on the other hand, the men can look
forward to the drills because of their value and the desire to improve,
feeling a genuine pride in the organization of which they are a part.
With this attitude, men are really improving themselves as firemen and
as citizens.

***City Training School.*** - Operating throughout the year and manned
by the necessary qualified instructors working under the direction of a
chief inspector, the well-organized and well-conducted city training
school is effective. Whole companies are often taken out of service, at
least annually, to receive training that cannot be done satisfactorily
at the company level. Commonly included are drill tower and smoke
chamber experience. Some of the new equipment to make this experience
more realistic is being patterned after that recently used by our armed
forces when training their firefighters. Performance tests, along with
informational examinations, check both the effectiveness of the
instructor and the learner's grasp of the situation.

Four distinct groups can and do profit from a city training school
through organized classes:

1.  The *probationary* fireman who gets his initial trial training there
    before he gets his definite work assignment.

2.  The *experienced* fireman who is given an opportunity to improve on
    specific phases of fire prevention and fire extinguishment. Such
    training, well given, not only improves his present ability but
    should, in a measure, prepare him for possible promotion.

3.  The *advanced* fireman who is ready, willing, and able to move
    forward perhaps more rapidly than certain of his associates. Classes
    to which he is assigned naturally will deal with the more technical
    phases of ventilation, hydraulics, gases, hazardous materials, and
    similar subjects. Such men are present in nearly any department.

4.  The *specialized* fireman who is selected by supervisors who know
    his interest and capabilities to take specialized training. In this
    group are pump operators, first-aid men, inspectors, arson
    investigators, and the like. Classes are organized to turn out
    individuals specialized in at least one line of fire work.

***Instructor Training School.*** - As in the Statewide instructor
training schools, the emphasis needs to be placed in learning how to
teach others, rather than on skill as a fireman, which should already be
possessed. There must be schools and classes organized and conducted to
improve the efforts of those who may already be assigned to such
responsibility, and to train promising recruits who show evidence of
ability as teachers or instructors.

***Officer Training School.*** - What has been said previously with
respect to officer training applies here. When company officers, taken
in small groups, analyze their responsibilities and duties and receive
well-planned instruction from time to time, the whole training program
is moved forward. Subjects commonly included are technical firefighting
practices, use of protective equipment, the handling of men, and public
relations. Trained men need trained officers; and trained officers want
trained men working under their direction.

***Chief Officers' Conference.*** - Considerable success has been
attained in some cities through the holding of a regular chief officers'
or senior officers' conference. Presided over by the chief of the
department, these conferences often include his deputies, battalion or
district chiefs, the chief instructor and other senior officers. Such a
unit, operating as a part of the over-all plan, keeps the training needs
to the foreground and keeps officers informed about progress made. As
training problems are discussed and future plans made, the total program
is kept geared properly to the administrative policies and procedures of
the entire city department.

***Suggested Small Town and Village Department Training Programs***

> The following training suggestions are offered for the training
> programs that small towns, villages, and communities must of necessity
> carry on for themselves:

1.  Secure the services of State itinerant instructors and other
    instructors in both planning and execution of the program.

2.  Make appropriate modifications of certain of the elements appearing
    in the Statewide and city programs.

3.  Utilize the training resources of adjoining communities for the
    benefit of several communities in close proximity.

Small departments can be helped the same as larger ones by
instructor-training and officer-training courses, made available through
a live and going Statewide program, as illustrated. Better Statewide
fire training programs naturally mean more service to the smaller fire
departments.

> ***Suggested Programs for Private Fire Brigades***

There are numbers of fire departments that are similar to public fire
departments, but which protect industrial, mercantile, institutional,
and governmental establishments. These range all the way from small
private fire brigades to fire departments of substantial size. The armed
forces, forest services, and other agencies also maintain firefighting
organizations.

In each of these, there are some features of the training requirements
that are highly specialized. Examples are the techniques of forest
firefighting, and the Navy and Coast Guard programs to train ship
firefighters during the war. In some instances, this specialized
training also has been available to persons outside the particular
service. This specialized training should not be confused with a
complete program of firemen's training.

Private fire brigades and all specialized fire-defense organizations
should develop a program commensurate with their specific needs, but
embodying most of the features of a complete program, as appropriate for
municipal fire departments.

***[Recommendations for Firemen's Training]{.underline}***

1.  That continuing, systematic, up-to-date programs of training for
    firemen are necessary in order that they may discharge their
    responsibilities in firefighting and fire prevention; that fire
    chiefs' and firemen's organizations continue to focus attention on
    and support firemen's training programs; that firemen's training be
    recognized as one measure of an effective fire department.

2.  That every fire department not having a training program establish
    and maintain one commensurate with training needs, and departments
    now having training programs in operation continue to develop and
    improve them; that local fire departments take the initiative in
    providing training programs, using standard practices and calling
    upon appropriate outside assistance to improve further such programs
    from year to year; that city departments cooperate with and assist
    private fire brigades and the smaller outlaying departments with
    their training programs; that a more adequate supply of carefully
    selected instructors and conference leaders be developed from within
    the fire service; that training programs be based on specific needs,
    as revealed by careful surveys of local situations.

3.  That the armed services (including the National Guard), the merchant
    marine, the forest services, industrial, mercantile, institutional,
    and governmental establishments and maintain fire departments be
    encouraged primarily for their own personnel to develop and extend
    existing training programs, or to provide programs where they are
    now lacking; that such programs recognize the special needs of the
    particular department or service, but that in the interests of
    general efficiency these programs be carefully geared to and in
    harmony with the programs of firemen's training as carried on in the
    various States and cities; that where appropriate specialized
    training facilities are available, provision be made for extending
    this training to other firemen.

4.  That instruction, when offered, be organized around the activities
    and actual jobs of firemen and that a complete firemen's training
    program be considered as having several essential parts: training
    for rank-and-file men, primarily operational; training for officers,
    of an administrative, supervisory, and leadership nature; training
    of instructors and conference leaders: and certain highly
    specialized training for fire prevention and firefighting.

5.  That since training of firemen as a public service occupation
    through vocational education channels as administered by the U.S.
    Office of Education and State boards for vocational education, with
    support from both Federal and State funds, has been effective; has
    increased the number of firemen receiving training; has provided
    well-planned training for many fire departments; and has generally
    improved the efficiency of training, the established pattern be
    continued and strengthened.

6.  That the possibilities be explored for the establishment, at
    training centers such as those now existing or contemplated by
    certain States, of suitable buildings and other equipment, so that
    some operational training may include use of equipment in actual
    fires; that similar centers may be possible in some of the largest
    cities; that while such training facilities are useful, as
    demonstrated during the war by the armed services, operational
    training is only one part of a comprehensive training program; that
    proposals for a nationally operated center for such training be left
    open, and for the present, State training programs be developed and
    strengthened.

**[FARM AND RURAL FIREFIGHTING SERVICES]{.underline}**

The loss from fires on farms and in rural communities in the United
States in 1946 was an important factor in our fire waste. A high
percentage of the fire loss occurs annually in such areas. In addition
to the ordinary fire hazards on the farm, the mechanization and
electrification of agriculture has introduced new causes of accidents
and fire that make close cooperation necessary between Federal, State,
and private agencies in the development of effective organization plans
for reducing these fire losses.

The continued prosperity of farmers and other rural property owners and
the safety of their families is dependent to an important extent upon
dependable, organized fire department service. This service was early
recognized as one of the necessary and vital functions of our
incorporated cities and villages, and as a result, the development of
fire departments has been along the lines necessary to meet their
specific needs, until recent years.

Fire protection minded organizations and individuals have now realized
that improved roads, modern automobile fire apparatus, and rural
telephone service can make available comparable facilities for fire
control throughout our farm and rural communities. As a result since
about 1920 the development of rural fire departments has increased
slowly at first, but with considerable headway during the late 1930's
and following World War II. Many States during the 1920's and 1930's
enacted legislation to encourage and promote rural fire-control
programs. Such legislation has made it possible to place such programs
on a more substantial basis than could be done previously.

Rural fire department service is public fire protection furnished to
property located outside the corporate limits of a city or village *by
specific assignment*, using apparatus designated for such purpose. This
includes farm property, scattered suburban dwelling or mercantile
property, isolated manufacturing property, or small unincorporated
communities. Assignment must be specific, so that every property owner
within a given district will know definitely the procedure to follow in
turning in an alarm, and so that *prearranged* fire department service
will be immediately available.

In this way, the farmer or other rural property owner, having made prior
arrangement and contribution to obtain this service, may have the same
feeling of assurance that organized firefighting assistance will respond
at his call that the city dweller has always enjoyed.

Common methods used to provide rural fire department service include
fire departments supported by subscriptions, service on a fee basis from
existing fire departments, and by organization of fire protection
districts.

***Fire Protection Districts.*** - Protection is provided by
governmental means through the formation of specific fire protection
districts, or by authorizing townships or countries to provide fire
control service by taxation and other means in their rural areas. By
means of legislation, a number of States have provided that one or more
townships, or a part of a township, or parts of several townships may
form a special fire protection district within which a tax may be levied
to provide fire protection. Management of the district's affairs is the
duty of a duly elected or appointed board of trustees or existing
governmental body. Fire protection for all property within the limits of
a county, township, or fire protection district is generally provided by
one of the following methods:

1.  A contract between one or more established city, village, or private
    fire departments and the rural governmental body, whereby protection
    is provided for an annual fee, with the fire departments providing
    apparatus, equipment, manpower, maintenance, and housing facilities.

2.  Provision and maintenance of apparatus and equipment by the rural
    governmental body, with manning and housing facilities provided by
    one or more city, village, or private fire departments. The service
    rendered is then paid for on the basis of a set fee per run, per
    hour, or per year.

3.  Provision of full rural fire department facilities by the rural
    governmental body, including apparatus, equipment, housing, and
    personnel. The fire department is then located in one or more
    villages or communities within the boundaries of the township,
    county, or fire protection district.

It is generally found that small cities, villages, and communities
profit by participating in these plans for the provision of rural fire
departments service as much as do the farmers and other rural residents.
Such communities may in this way become better equipped to combat the
fires occurring within their limits and can also service the rural area
without jeopardizing their own protection. Many small communities would
be dependent on very inadequate first-line fire department equipment, if
it were not for the additional support available for a combined program
from the rural area served.

***Rural Fire Protection Legislation.*** - Information contained in a
report prepared by Mr. John D. Rush of the United States Department of
Agriculture in November 1946, which apparently contains the most
up-to-date available on the status of Rural Fire Protection Laws and
Programs, indicates that by 1946 basic legislation authorizing rural
fire protection under township, county, or special district governing
bodies had been enacted in 38 States. Most of these laws have either
been enacted or revised since 1920. Although most of the programs now in
operation are based on old laws, amendatory legislation has served to
bring such programs in line with the material progress that has been
made recently in the field of fire control. Such amendatory legislation
gives sanction to those programs formed under the older laws, but
requires them to conform as soon as possible to the provisions of the
newer statutes. During the decade 1930-39, 12 States adopted or revised
laws for the establishment of fire protection districts in rural areas.
Because of the local nature of fire protection programs, little data are
available to indicate the extent to which programs have been developed
in these 38 States. Mr. Rush, in his report, compiled the following
approximate data, giving some indication of the progress that has been
made:

> *California* -- At least 250 fire protection districts, some operating
> on a county-unit basis.
>
> *Illinois* -- More than 110 fire protection districts, with a State
> association. Evidence indicates that by the end of 1947 there will be
> in excess of 150 such fire protection districts operating within the
> State of Illinois.
>
> *Iowa* - Township fire protection furnished by at least 400 city and
> village fire departments.
>
> *Kansas* -- At least 20 townships with contracts for fire protection.
>
> *Massachusetts* -- More than 50 fire districts serving the thickly
> populated suburban communities with few farms, but many more township
> fire departments serving rural areas in which most of the farms are
> located.
>
> *Minnesota* -- At least 208 townships protected.
>
> *Nebraska* -- About 30 rural fire protection districts.
>
> *New York* -- A total of 1,324 fire districts and a State association.
>
> *North Dakota* -- At least 150 townships with some protection.
>
> *Ohio* -- At least 408 townships with some protection
>
> *Oregon* -- At least 72 fire protection districts.
>
> *Vermont* -- At least 25 fire districts serving approximately 1
> percent of the farms; but other farms are stated to be served by
> municipal fire departments.
>
> *Washington* -- Approximately 100 fire protection districts.

Enabling legislation has been utilized to some extent to establish rural
fire protection districts in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. Some
progress in the utilization of State laws authorizing township fire
departments, the extent of which is unknown, has been reported in
Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The
movement to organize county fire departments, consisting of a number of
fire companies distributed in various parts of the area under county
administration, is, except in a few isolated instances, just beginning.
In a few States for which very rough estimates were obtained, including
protection provided voluntarily or by law, the proportion of all farms
in each State has some degree of fire department protection has been
estimated as follows: Connecticut, 50 percent; Delaware, 90 percent;
Idaho, 5 percent; Maine, 20 percent; Massachusetts, 50 percent;
Maryland, 90 percent; Michigan, 75 percent; Missouri, 15 percent; New
York, 80 percent; Rhode Island, 90 to 100 percent; and Vermont, 10 to 15
percent.

State enabling legislation should be provided Nationwide to permit
incorporated rural governmental bodies, such as townships, counties, or
special fire protection districts to provide their own fire protection;
to contact to give or receive such protection to or from other
incorporated governmental units or incorporated private organizations;
to provide protection jointly with other units; or to contribute toward
the support of other fire departments in return for fire protection
service. Such rural governmental bodies should be permitted through
State legislation to enact and enforce, by means of qualified building
and inspection authorities, regulatory ordinances covering building
construction, the safeguarding of hazardous conditions, the installation
of private fire appliances, and other fire prevention measures.

***A State Rural Fire Protection Advisory Body.*** -- Complete
information covering ways and means to provide rural firefighting
service and fire prevention activities should be available from an
efficient rural fire protection advisory body in each State. Such a body
should be capable of giving complete organizational, promotional, and
planning advice, based on the specific needs of the community involved,
of the communities adjacent thereto, and of the State as a whole. Such
advice should be coordinated with the requirements of local fire
insurance rating bureaus, where proper rural fire department service is
recognized as justification for rate benefits.

The advisory body may be set up to operate as an official State body,
under the general direction of a State fire marshal, for example, or it
may be a voluntary association. If it is a voluntary organization, it
may function through an executive committee selected annually. We
recommend that a rural fire protection specialist be employed in the
State Fire Marshal's office to extend and improve rural fire protection;
we also recommend that a rural fire protection specialist be employed by
the State Agricultural Extension Service to stimulate and conduct
educational programs in rural fire prevention and first-aid control of
fires. We further recommend that the Rural Fire Protection Committee act
in an advisory capacity in planning and directing the activities of
these two specialists.

(Examples of groups from which representation might be drawn, as
appropriate, for the State Rural Fire Protection Committee are: the
State Fire Marshal, the State Fire Prevention Association, the State
Inspection Bureau, the State Fire Chiefs' Association, the State
Firemen's Association, Volunteer Firemen's Associations, Association of
Township Officials, the Grange, the Farm Bureau, the Farmers' Union,
Stock and Mutual Fire Insurance Organizations, the Agricultural
Extension Service, the State Department of Education, the Conservation
Bureau, and the State Foresters.)

***A Fire Prevention Program.*** - In view of generally wider
distribution of fire companies in farm and rural areas, an effective
program to keep fires from starting, backed by law, is possible.
Authorities who have the responsibility of carrying out this program
should be thoroughly versed in all details of farmstead planning and
special farm fire prevention problems. The representatives of various
rural interests, such as agricultural organizations, rural educators,
parent-teacher associationa, women's clubs, the rural press, local fire
insurance agents, forest fire organizations, 4-H Clubs, Farm Bureaus,
and similar organizations can be helpful and should be urged to
cooperate and assist in the conduct of the over-all rural fire
prevention program.

**[FOREST FIRE SERVICES]{.underline}**

Municipal, industrial, and building-site areas, involving structures of
all kinds, comprise less than 150,000,000 acres of the land area of the
United States, or only about 7 percent. The other 93 percent of the 1.9
billion acres of the United States is in farm and pasture land, open
range, or forest. It is outside the sphere of activity of municipal fire
departments, and is mostly without the benefit of insurance and
specialized protection service.

Forest lands make up one-third of the total, farm lands make up about
one-fourth. The remainder is mostly in the form of other wild lands.
Each year well over 175,000 fires start on such lands of Virginia. The
reported damage is conservatively appraised at 36 million dollars in
commercial values. To this must be added the less tangible damages, such
as loss of soil in the mountains, increased danger of floods, damage of
water supplies, to scenery, and to wildlife. Such damages are of even
more public importance.

In referring to the "forest fire" problem in this report, the term is
used in the broad sense and is meant to include forest, brush, and grass
fires on all wild and uncultivated lands.

***Forest Protection.*** - Responsibility for forest fire protection is
now actively assumed by Federal, State, county, and private agencies.
The Forest Service protects the largest area of Federal forest lands,
consisting of 185 million acres. Several other Federal agencies also
have a highly important job of protecting over 150 million acres of
other public wild lands.

In 43 States, organized protection from fire on non-Federal forest lands
is a primary job of the State forestry departments. During 1946 the
State Foresters, together with their cooperating local and private
agencies, carried on fire control on 320 million acres of State and
privately owned forest land. Protection is also being extended as
rapidly as funds permit to an additional 119 million acres that need
protection but are not now receiving it.

Under the Clarke-McNary Act of 1924, a total of 23 million dollars is
being spent on this cooperative protection program. Of this amount the
States are contributing 55 percent; the Federal Government 35 percent;
and private landowners 10 percent.

The housing shortage and other critical war needs, and postwar demands
for wood products, have greatly increased the pace of woods operations,
and have resulted in increasing the danger of fire in logging debris in
all forest regions.

At the same time, the property value of forests everywhere is greatly
increased and the appraised damage done by fires has doubled.

A further factor is the great increase in other forms of public use. The
elimination of wartime restrictions has put increasing thousands of
hunters and fishermen back into the woods and has returned former
military and war industry workers to residence in forest areas. Vacation
travel into forest regions is on the increase and airplanes now take
parties into areas remote from ground transportation. All these trends
increase the chances of forest fires and are reflected by a sharp
uptrend in man-caused fires.

***Fire Prevention.*** - In spite of impressive progress in the success
of forest firefighting, the reckless waste and destruction, in the form
of huge forest fire losses that still arise from careless American
habits, must be reduced at the source. This is a tremendous task,
requiring an aggressive and continuing campaign. Examples in this
direction are the National Forest Fire Prevention campaign and the "Keep
America Green" programs. They must be coupled with some restrictions of
use in highly hazardous areas.

***Protection.*** - The numerous Federal, State, county, and private
protection agencies need to be strengthened and their efforts more fully
coordinated. By such means all land resources would receive a degree of
protection consistent with the values represented and the fire
liabilities that exist. In this effort, the principle of public values
and public responsibility for problems beyond the control of the
landowner needs greater recognition, and public financial support should
be extended accordingly.

Forest protection agencies are still largely financed on a prewar basis,
but costs of labor and equipment have advanced by 50 percent or more.

Labor for firefighting activities is scarce and largely unskilled.
Better efficiency is badly needed. Increasing mechanization to replace
hand methods and increasing speed of action provide the best prospect
for attaining this efficiency. The old problems of time and distance are
overcome drastically by parachute firefighters and by parachute delivery
of equipment and supplies to the scene of action. Less spectacular, but
of equal importance, are many other modern trends in development, such
as tractor-bulldozers, special tractor-drawn plows, new fog nozzles and
wetting agents to make water more effective, improved radio equipment,
and a long list of specialized equipment to fit the firefighting work in
each locality.

**[VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENTS]{.underline}**

Following recognition of rural fire department service as a vital part
of the fire protection plan of our Nation, fire officials, the National
Fire Protection Association, Government officials, fire apparatus
manufacturers, and insurance interests became interested in compiling
standards for this important service, since it is a well-known fact that
development along carefully thought-out lines, using proved standards as
a guide, always produces better results than unplanned growth. Numerous
standards for rural fire department service have been compiled by the
various interested groups; but those published by the National Fire
Protection Association in the pamphlet, "Volunteer Fire Departments for
Rural and Small Communities," combine, through its Committee on Farm
Fire Protection, the well-though-out ideas of each of these groups. The
recommendations contained in this publication should be consulted,
carefully studied, and followed by all charged with the organization and
operation of rural fire departments. In the work of approving rural fire
department service for rural fire insurance rating purposes, the various
State rating bureaus used published specifications that closely follow
the recommendations of the National Fire Protection Association.

To give satisfactory protection, a rural fire department service must
consist of the same fundamental facilities that go into the make-up of a
city fire department service.

The tendency is to bring volunteer fire departments under public
control, as described. Those not under public control should be
incorporated, so that individual members will not be liable to damage
suits. Private volunteer fire departments sooner or later are likely to
call upon governmental bodies to appropriate funds for equipment,
maintenance, and other expenses. This tendency should be encouraged, to
place fire protection on a more permanent and more practical basis. Laws
of some States prescribe the method of organizing volunteer fire
departments and require them to be under the direction of some
governmental body.

***Alarms.*** - Audible general alarm facilities, such as horns or
sirens, are generally a necessity where fire departments are volunteer.
For a discussion of telephone service, fire alarm telegraph, and radio,
see the section of this report on Fire Department Communications.

***Motorized Apparatus.*** - There are two principal types of fire
apparatus suitable for rural and farm fire department work. One is a
triple combination pumper (pumper with hose body containing 2 ½-inch
hose and water-tank equipment), and the other is the water tank type of
apparatus, or booster type of apparatus that is primarily dependent on
the supply carried on the truck.

Specific responsibility should be placed on mechanically inclined fire
department members for a regular schedule of maintenance of mechanical
apparatus and all equipment. "Preventive Maintenance" should be properly
scheduled and accomplished by intensive inspection and proper
adjustment.

***Fire Prevention Activities.*** - In addition to their regular duties,
the department personnel should become a self-constituted educational
force to disseminate the fundamentals of fire prevention, as gained from
their personal experience in fighting fires and from publications on the
subject, which should always be at their disposal.

We recommend that the members of the fire department regularly inspect
the premises in their community, in order to locate and secure the
correction of all conditions that constitute potential fire hazards. We
also recommend that the members of the department tactfully secure the
cooperation and interest of property owners in the building of driveways
leading to natural water supplies, or in providing ponds or other
artificial reservoirs.

Full and complete news of all activities - civil, social, and
firefighting should be given to the press. In particular, advice as to
fire prevention and fire protection should be frequently published.
National Fire Prevention Week should always be fittingly observed with
addresses and demonstrations in the local schools, civic organizations,
farmers' club, etc.

Fire departments charged with the responsibility of farm fire protection
should have complete knowledge of safeguarding special features of
hazards prevalent in farm buildings.

***Extent of Running District.*** - The distribution and assignment of
rural fire department companies necessary to properly cover a specific
district is a matter that requires through study of the characteristics
of the property therein. In general, it can be expected that the longer
the run by the fire department, the greater the possibility of excessive
loss to individual property and of conflagration in congested areas.
However, the acceptable distance has gradations depending upon the
degree of building congestion, concentration of values and hazards,
topography, condition and arrangement of roads, traffic, probable delay
due to bridge and railroad operation at roadways, and other obstructions
to response. Rapidity of response under unfavorable conditions, in view
of the alarm facilities available, is a consideration of special
importance where water supplies are limited, as in rural districts. Also
the probability of simultaneous fires increases directly with the size
and congestion of a specific district.

In recognition of these factors, many rural districts have found it
necessary to establish multiple-company operation and arrange mutual-aid
agreements to provide effective coverage under all conditions. In all
cases, we suggest that the insurance rating bureau having jurisdiction
be consulted in planning company distribution and assignment, as
recognition of this service for insurance rate consideration may be
dependent on these factors.

***Farm Water Supplies.*** - The development of permanent water supplies
for fire department use at farm property should be promoted extensively
by the authorities in charge of administering the affairs of the
district covered and by the fire department members during regular
inspections of property.

Wherever possible, provide for the building of cisterns on farms and
near rural public buildings, so that fire department pumpers can use
them for water supply. Sufficient water supply for at least 1 hour
pumping, at not less than a 50 gallon-per-minute rate, should be
available. This normally would require a minimum cistern capacity of
3,000 gallons. If a small stream is available, an ample supply of water
may be provided by the building of a dam. When building a tank or
reservoir, it is well to provide 4,000 gallons total capacity, so as to
allow for the tank not being full at all times. Runways and roadways for
fire department pumpers to available streams and ponds should be
provided.

The publication of the National Fire Protection Association, entitled
"Water Systems for Protection on Farms," contains many valuable
suggestions for water supply development. The Portland Cement
Association has cooperated in the development of plans, blueprints,
forms, and methods for the installation for fire protection reservoirs.

The problem of making the best use of all available supplies at each
farm should be given intensive study by the rural fire department at its
regular training periods. Water supply records should be studied during
training sessions devoted to planning the attack at each individual
farm.

***[Recommendations for Fire Services in Farm and Forest
Areas]{.underline}***

1.  That all States should enact legislation enabling rural governmental
    bodies such as townships, counties, or special fire prevention
    districts to provide public firefighting service; that this
    legislation also authorize the formation of fire protection
    districts that may or may not be coextensive with other governmental
    subdivisions; that the legislation provide for building and fire
    prevention regulations and their enforcement, including those
    appropriate for natural terrain and forest areas.

2.  That rural fire protection service should be tax-supported, as the
    fairest means of distributing the cost.

3.  That a State Rural Fire Protection Committee be set up in each State
    to promote and guide a Statewide program for rural fire prevention
    and protection, including coordination of rural and forest
    protection services. This may be a voluntary association of the
    districts, State departments, and organizations and individuals
    interested, or it may be an official State body.

4.  That local fire prevention activities, including public education,
    be sponsored by all rural governmental bodies that operate organized
    fire services; that adequate staff be provided on a local, regional,
    or State basis to carry on fire prevention and building inspections,
    supervision of natural terrain and forests, and development of fire
    protection water supplies at each farm property.

5.  That special consideration be given to rural youth in fire
    prevention education, which would include demonstrations,
    identification of fire hazards, actual training, participation in
    fire prevention contests, preparation of exhibits at fairs, and
    firefighting surveys.

**REFERENCE MATERIAL ON THE FIREFIGHTING SERVICES**

The following sources are among those that will supply lists of
published material relating to the subject of this report:

> Case-Shepperd Mann Publishing Co., 24 West Fortieth Street, New York,
> N.Y.
>
> International Association of Fire Chiefs, 24 West Fortieth Street, New
> York, N.Y.
>
> International Association of Fire-Fighters, American Federation of
> Labor Building, Washington 1, D.C.
>
> International City Managers' Association, 1313 East Sixtieth Street,
> Chicago, Ill.

International Municipal Signal Association, Inc., 8 East Forty-first
Street, New York, N.Y.

> National Board of Fire Underwriters, 85 John Street, New York 7, N.Y.
>
> National Fire Protection Association, 60 Batterymarch Street, Boston
> 10, Mass.
>
> Public Administration Service, 1313 East Sixtieth Street, Chicago,
> Ill.
>
> Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D.C.

**COMMITTEE ON FIREFIGHTING SERVICES**

**CHAIRMAN**

Maj. Gen. WILLIAM J. DONOVAN, *2 Wall Street, New York, N.Y.*

**SECRETARY**

HORATIO BOND, *National Fire Protection Association, Boston, Mass.*

**ASSISTANT SECRETARIES**

H. R. CHASE, *International Association of Fire Chiefs, Miami, Fla.*

WILLIAM FITZGERALD, *Fire Department Headquarters, Seattle, Wash.*

A.  H. GENT, *Illinois Inspection Bureau, Chicago, Ill.*

W. A. ROSS, *U.S. Office of Education, Washington, D.C.*

John Alderson, *Fire Department, Los Angeles, Calif.*

John Andrias, *Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Companies, New
York, N.Y.*

Edward Boatright, *Fire Department, Portland, Oreg.*

R.A. Bogan, *Fire Department, Baton Rouge, La.*

Prof. Harold R. Brayton, *Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas,
College Station, Tex.*

William Earl Brower, *International Association of Fire-Fighters,
Everett, Wash.*

William T. Cawker, *Topeka Fire Department, Topeka, Kans.*

John Coffmann, *National Park Service, Chicago, Ill.*

Eugene Connor, *Commissioner of Public Safety, Birmingham, Ala.*

Herbert A. Friede, *International Municipal Signal Association,
Washington, D.C.*

John F. Gilliams, *Camden Fire Insurance Co., Camden, N.J.*

Gifford T. Cook, *Headquarters, U.S. Army Air Forces, Washington, D.C.*

Charles S. Cowan, *Washington Forest Fire Association, Seattle, Wash.*

John P. Crane, *Uniformed Firemen's Association, New York, N.Y.*

J. E. Cryan, *National Fire Waste Council, Chicago, Ill.*

Calvin H. Dalby, *Director of Public Safety, Norfolk, Va.*

James Deach, *International Association of Fire Fighters, St. Paul,
Minn.*

W. W. Dean, *Office Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.*

Frank Egenreither, *Fire Department, St. Louis, Mo.*

Colonel Alva L. Fenn, *War Department, Washington, D.C.*

J. W. Just, *University of Maryland, College Park, Md.*

John B. Keenan, *Department of Public Safety, Newark, N.J.*

David P. Godwin, *United States Forest Service, Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D.C.*

Clarence Goldsmith, *National Board of Fire Underwriters, Chicago, Ill.*

W. A. Hebert, *Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Co., Springfield,
Mass.*

Paul P. Heinz, *Department of Fire Services, New Haven, Conn.*

Everett Hudiberg, *Fire Department, Stillwater, Okla.*

E. C. Iverson, *State Fire Marshal, Lincoln, Nebr.*

Edward J. Jeffries, Jr., *Major, Detroit, Mich.*

Albert F. Jordan, *Commissioner of Insurance, Washington, D.C.*

Frank C. McAuliffe, *International Association of Fire Chiefs, Chicago,
Ill.*

Grey Marsh, *Weston Volunteer Fire Department, Weston, W. Va.*

L. J. Molloy, *Association of American Railroads, Norfolk, Va.*

Edward N. Montgomery, *Headquarters, Boston Fire department, Boston,
Mass.*

Anthony J. Mullaney, *Chicago Fire Department, Chicago, Ill.*

L. G. Keeney, *Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Association, Grinnell, Iowa.*

H. L. Krieger, *Ohio Inspection Bureau, Columbus, Ohio.*

Hon. Fiorello H. La Guardia, *New York, N.Y.*

A. M. Lewis, *National Automatic Sprinkler and Fire Control Association,
New York, N.Y.*

George S. Lockhart, *Fire Department, Minneapolis, Minn.*

Forrest B. Lucas, *Department of Public Safety, Dayton, Ohio.*

Leonard C. Lund, *Fire Marshal Division, State of Minnesota, St. Paul,
Minn.*

Clement Murphy, *Fire Department, Washington, D.C.*

M. I. Parker, *Missouri Inspection Bureau, St. Louis, Mo.*

F. B. Philbrick, *The Gamewell Co., Newton Upper Falls, Mass.*

Harry M. Pontious, *Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Columbus, Ohio.*

D. J. Price, *United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.*

D. P. Rachael, *Fire Department, Port Arthur, Tex..*

Walter O. Randlett, *Virginia Electric & Power Co., Richmond, Va.*

Clarence Ridley, *International Association of City Managers, Chicago,
Ill.*

Theodore A. Rosenwald, *New Mexico State College, Albuquerque, N. Mex*.

Oliver T. Sanborn, *Fire Department, Portland, Maine.*

Dr. H. H. Schrenk, *Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa.*

Cornelius D. Scully, *Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, Pittsburgh,
Pa.*

H. J. Segrave, *Mine Safety Appliance Co., New York, N.Y.*

George T. Slocum, *Fire Department, Grand Rapids, Mich.*

Edgar A. Spotz, *State Fire School, Harrisburg, Pa.*

Jay W. Stevens, *National Board of Fire Underwriters, San Francisco,
Calif.*

John W. Strohm, *State Fire Marshal, Des Moines, Iowa.*

George L. Swan, *National Board of Fire Underwriters, New York, N.Y.*

Waverly Sykes, *Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va.*

Glenn E. Thom, *International Association of Fire Fighters, Detroit,
Mich.*

Ray Tiller, *Fire Department, Waterloo, Iowa*.

Spence D. Turner, *Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles,
Calif.*

E. J. Vanderwall, *Director of Conservation, Madison, Wis.*

W. M. Walton, *University of Alabama, University, Ala.*

William G. Wandras, *Fire Department, Kearney, N.J.*

Thomas S. Ward, *State Department of Education, Sacramento, Calif.*

John B. Warden, *Harrisburg, Pa.*

C. R. Welborn, *Unerwriters' Laboratories, Inc. Chicago, Ill.*

George W. Welsh, *U.S. Conference of Mayors, Grand Rapids, Mich.*

Edward E. Wischer, *Fire Department, Milwaukee, Wis.*

D. O. Wood, *Fire Extinguisher Manufacturers Association, Dayton, Ohio*.

F. B. Wornall, *Director of Fire, Kansas City, Mo.*

Joe R. Yockers, *State Fire Marshal, San Francisco, Calif.*

**CONFERENCE ORGANIZTION**

**GENERAL CHAIRMAN**

Maj. Gen. PHILIP B. FLEMING, *Administrator, Federal Works Agency*

**EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR**

A.  BRUCE BIELASKI, *Assistant General Manager, National Board of Fire
    Underwriters*

> **COORDINATING COMMITTEE**
>
> **CHAIRMAN**
>
> W. E. REYNOLDS, *Commissioner of Public Buildings*

O. J. Arnold, *President, Northwestern National Life Insurance Co.*

Frank Bane, *Executive Director, Council of State Governments.*

Paul Betters, *Executive Secretary, United States Conference of Mayors.*

Ernest B. Brown, *President, Ernest W. Brown, Inc.*

Frank A. Christensen, *President, National Board of Fire Underwriters.*

J. H. Craig, *Chairman, Fire Marshals' Section, National Fire Protection
Association.*

Dr. Ned H. Dearborn, *President, National Safety Council.*

Charles A. Delaney, *President, International Association of Fire
Chiefs.*

Robert E. Dineen, *President, National Association of Insurance
Commissioners.*

Jas. R. Edmunds, Jr., *President, American Institute of Architects.*

Wallace J. Falvey, *Chairman, Advisory Committee, National Conservation
Bureau.*

Hovey T. Freeman, *President, Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Co.*

A. V. Gruhn, *General Manager, American Mutual Alliance.*

W. K. Jackson, *President, Chamber of Commerce of the United States.*

Leroy A. Lincoln, *President, Metropolitan life Insurance Co.*

W. E. Mallalieu, *General Manager, National Board of Fire Underwriters.*

Earl D. Mallery, *Executive Director, The American Municipal
Association.*

James H. Mooney, *President, Building Officials' Conference of America.*

James H. Park, *President, Pacific Coast Building Officials Conference.*

Curtis W. Pierce, *President, National Fire Protection Association.*

George J. Richardson, *Secretary and Treasure, International Association
of Fire Fighters.*

Mrs. Pearl Wanamaker, *President, National Education Association.*

Guy T. Warfield, Jr., *President, National Association of Insurance
Agents.*

Frank M. Whiston, *President, National Association of Building Owners
and Managers.*

**TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP**

H. R. Bassford, *Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.*

Robert B. Beach, *National Association of Building Owners and Managers.*

James V. Bennett, *Federal Interdepartment Safety Council.*

George W. Booth, *National Board of Fire Underwriters.*

A. L. Brown, *Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Cos.*

Percy Bugbee, *National Fire Protection Association.*

W. C. Clark, *Federal Fire Council.*

Theodore I. Coe, *American Institute of Architects.*

John P. Coyne, *International Association of Fire Fighters.*

Dr. Robert W. Eaves, *National Education Association.*

Hubert R. Gallagher, *Council of State Governments.*

Donoh W. Hanks, Jr., *The American Municipal Association.*

Julien H. Harvey, *National Conservation Bureau.*

A. L. Kirkpatrick, *Chamber of Commerce of the United States.*

West Shell, *National Association of Insurance Agents.*

Fred Shepperd, *International Association of Fire Chiefs.*

J. C. Stennett, *American Mutual Alliance.*

**CONFERENCE STAFF**

A. BRUCE BIELASKI, *Executive Director.*

LEWIS A. VINCENT, *Assistant Executive Director.*

William J. Chattin, *Technical Assistant.* John B. West *Technical
Assistant.*

John L. Werheim, *Technical Assistant.* Russell R. McGuire, *Publicity.*

Douglas H. Timmerman, *Conference Arrangements.* Hester M. Bell,
*Secretary.*

**STAFF CONSULTANTS**

A. C. Hutson, F. C. McAuliffe, R. E. Truman, R. E. Verner, R. E. Wilson

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1947