Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-05
OF WORLDWIDE INTEREST
FIRES AND FIRE FIGHTERS
BY FREDERIC J. HAskIN

cent years but for .wo centuries or
more the prevention and control of
fires has been the subject of constant
study and work in the civilized world
Not until half q. century ago, however,
| did fire fighting attain to the dignity
of a science, which today is engaging
the time and attention of the most
competent experts in the world. Tho
! Importance of this work will be recog-
nized when one considers that in the
United States there are scores of
schools where firemen are trained. 1t
has been contended that fireman, like
/ a poet, must be born, not made but
experience proves that the training
schools maintained by the large cities
of the country serve to deew out those
whose ambitions and qualifications are
not of the same character. In Europe,
as a rule, the membership of the fire
| departments is composed of military
veterans, who carry into the work of
| fighting flames the same spirit of pat
riotism and discipline which character
| lied their service in the army. 1t is the
opinion of students that the European
! firemen do not compare with their
| American brothers in intelligence, ca
pacity and daring.
Tt is generally conceded that the fire
departments OF the United States are
tfle nlOSI perfect ORGANIZATIONS Oh llelf
kind in the world. Foreigners say this
is true because there are more fires in
the United states than anywhere else
in the world and that the efficiency
of the American fire departments has
developed from necessity. The first
thing the average foreigner does after
landing in this country is to look
around for fire. He has read so much
at home about the prevalence of con-
fiagrations in our great cities aud the
wonderful deeds of our firemen that
he wants to see them at close range
He Is rarely disappointed and is willing
to admit that the feats performed by
American fire department teams at the
Paris fire congress some years ago were
nothing exceptional from the American
point of view. At that time q Kansas
City, Mo-. company Won the world
prize by hitching up, driving a quarter
of mile to the scene of theoretical
fire, making hose connections, scaling
the walls of a building and rescuing
three persons from the sixth ana sew
enth stories all within the space of
three minutes and forty-two seconds.
The fastest foreign crew In the compe-
tition required ten minutes to execute
the same maneuvers, while TURKISH
firemen's team was awarded the BOBBY
prize. These Turks personally carried
antiquated hose and other apparatus,
quired program after the OFFICIAL time
keeper had retired from the scene.
The fire demon is not always fought
according to the approved methods OF
the big cities. The fighters seize upon
the weapons that lie nearest ana
sometimes win against terrible odds.
Everybody is familiar with the old
method of plowing wide burrows in the
path of prairie fire or of burning an
area in its path to check its advance.
but not all know the heroic measures of
the isolated forest ranger when he
fights fire on the government reserva-
tions In the Texas oil fields steam has
been found to be the best agent in put
ting out fire in an oil well or tank. It
remains however, for a California
wine maker to hold the record for the
most expensive extinguishing agency.
When forest fire threatened his plant
he took a hose and played 1000 gallons
of wine on the encroaching flames. The
wine was worth so cents a gallon but
it saved the clever manufactures many
thousands Of dollars.
To attempt a recital of the heroic
deeds of fremen would be 10 give
history of the fire departments of most
American cities and add to these the
records of few private citizens Every
fire department has one or more men,
bers entitled to a place in the hall of
fame and Carnegie hero medal. The
recent heroic sacrifice of Deputy Chief
Kruger of New York is uppermost in
the minds of hero loving America. Still
fresh is the recollection of the thrilling
rescues of the Windsor hotel fire in
New York in 1899 One man carried
three women, one by one, along mar
row ledge along the wall from one
seventh story window to another. An
other. though i'll, took the last three
women alive from the hotel. Another
fire captain OF the New York depart-
ment swung himself out over the edge
of a high roof, and while two of his
men held his feet caught the wrists of
a 206-pound man who Jumped across
the eight-foot alley from the roof
above. Firemen of the fire boat New
Yorker boarded one after another of
the three burning German vessels at
New York wharf few years ago. and
saved all but the engineers, who re-
fused to leave their posts.
The pages of history might be full
of such as these-if they had only been
written down But to the average
fireman the fact that he is regarded as
n hero is of small Importance. Duty
is his watchword. and even II his life
be asked as a sacrifice in the fulfillment
it is all right with him. He has lived
up to the full extent of his obligations
and has enriched the world with an
other example of courage and devotion
to a cause.