The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-06-25
Fire Protection for Small Towns and
Villages.

| ~ oPei iedu ny CnleI L. -. >. DlbDle,
OF Orangeburg, before the State Fire
! mems Association.)
| 1t is needless for me to saw at the
start that the subject to Re dealt
with in this paper is one OF vital i'm
| portance to the villages and towns
OF our State, as the columns of the
press recording frequently, yes too
frequently, the disastrous ravages of
the fire fend, in our small towns and
villages establish the fact that too
little attention is paid to fire protect
ION by the authorities. Too late do
they realize their utter helplessness
when the cry of Fire" is heard in
their streets, and they have to stand
by and see thousands Of dollars of
property swept away by consuming
names in an hour or two. 1t is true
tnat the insurance companies come in
and have to pay large losses, but
owing to the lack of fire protection
the rates Of insurance is necessarily
nigh, consequently losses over and
above insurance are in almost every
case more than enough to equip and
maintain a small fire department for
several years, not taking into account
loss or time to business interests and
the removing OF taxable values from
the tax books. Our people willing
ly tax themselves for school buildings.
pubic buildings, street and other
public improvements, which I do not
for moment criticise or condemn,
but when they are asked to supply
small amount Of money for fire pro-
lection Of these same public utilities
the lives and property of their town.
the objection Is at once raised cit
costs too much" That money spent
for fire protection Is returned four
fold to the people that have main
tanned fire departments is a fact that
cannot be disputed. In passing I
may say that this lack Of interest in
fire protection applies not only to
our towns and villages, but also TO
many Of the cities in our State. In
making up their expense account for
the current year every Department of
City government is provided for be-
lore the Fire Department is thought
of, and then it has to take what is
Of oil
getting their protection through their
volunteer Departments for such a
long time for practically nothing, that
City officials do not seem to grasp
the idea that as the city grows that
expenses in the line Of fire protection
grow along with it. Fire equipment
costs money but the municipality that
supplies its fire department with the
facilities for quick and efficient work
and encourages it's firemen in their
efforts to keep up their organizations,
whether it be the city with it's full
paid department or the town with
Its volunteers. will be amply repaid
for any amount Of money expended.
What equipment is necessary for
small towns and villages with popu-
lation up to 5000?
1st. I would suggest a two wheel
one cylinder As gallon Chemical Fire
Engine.
End. A hose reel with capacity for
400 feet Of hose.
| Srd. light Hook and Ladder
| Truck to be hauled by hand and
1 equipped with detachable ladders. two
chemical gallon tanks and the
necessary hooks, axes, ceiling OPEN
ers generally carried on apparatus
Of this kind.
4th. 1000 feet good hose.
| AS towns of size mentioned above
| are not generally able to support
paid men and the Department is to
pe volunteer, / would suggest three
companies, one for each piece of
| equipment, composed of the young
men of the town. These organiZa-
! tions can be kept up by companies
charging dues and assessing fines for
absence from fires, meetings, drills.
ETC., the town assisting by a small
annual appropriation. Let represen-
tatives from each of these companies
together with town council annually
or bi-ennially elect a chief and as
sistant chief, who shall have absolute
charge at fire and whose authority
shall be supreme at that time.
The cost of equipment mentioned
above will be about s2,5OO which
amount the town authorities should
easily be able to pay off in three or
four annual installments, and right
here 1 am satisfied that long before
the equipment is paid for, Depart
mant eOnjnna6