The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-15
CHIEF A. y. BENNETT
 MAKES STATEMENT
 ON B. R. |. & p. FIRE
Loss of Life Caused by the Rapid Progress of Fire and Delay of Aerial
 Trucks

ne delay Tn the arrival Oi the de1Iai trucks and the rapid progress of the fire were responsible for the loss of two lives at the Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company fire last Friday, ac- cording 10 a report to the city commits sion by Fire Chief A. Y. Bennett. made public yesterday.
 Chief Bennett states he saw the men on the fourth floor and shouted to them not to jump. but before the ladders ar rived and could be erected he was in- formed by those near him that the men had jumped and he then directed all his efforts to fighting the fire itself His statement is short, concise and to the point. a typical statement from the Bir- mingham chief. whose work as a fire fighter has made him famous. It follows: Honorable Board of Commissioners, City:
 "Gentlemen: Complying with your re- quest for report of my efforts. as head Of the fire department, to rescue the un- fortunate victims of the fire which de- stroyed the building of the Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company on the corner of First avenue and Twenty first street l beg to advise as follows: The alarm for this fire was transmit ted over the telephone and was responded to by Company No. l, City hall building consisting of two motor hose wagons and horse drawn engine Company No. ?, Avenue D and Nineteenth street, consist ing of motor hose wagon, horse drawn engine and horse drawn aerial truck; Company No. 1, Second alley and Twenty fourth street. consisting of motor hose wagon and horse drawn engine; Com pany No. 6, Third avenue and Fifteenth street. consisting of motor hose wagon and horse drawn aerial truck.
 "My machine was the first to reach the scene of the fire and my attention was immediately attracted to the fire escape which is on the Twenty-frst street side of the building, being filled with people, and two men who were leaning out at the windows on the fourth floor. l at once called to these two men in as loud voice as l could command not to jump, feeling absolutely confident that we would suc- ceed III rescung them.
 In the meantime the motor hose wagons were beginning to arrive and the crews of these machines, seeing the great volume of smoke rising from the build ing, began laying lines of hose as they passed the nearest hydrants to the fire. AS these machines came up l directed the drivers of each to drive his machine and hose line near the west otrh of Twen- ty-first street as possible with the sole idea of leaving the east side of the street next to the burning building unobstructed for the use of the aerial truck, which was our only means of effecting rescue
 'The arrival of the five motor wagons and the nearest engines filled the street with fire apparatus and men, and not wthstanding the fact that the fire was making tremendous headway, we were unable to make any effort to rescue the two men until the arrival of the trucks. as these machines carry the only life net and the only ladders longer than "A feet.
 The nearest of these trucks is located at Third avenue and Fifteenth street, is drawn by three horses and weighs 15,oyJ pounds, which necessarily makes it's prog ress slow, and although there was no delay whatever in responding to this alarm, the machine seemed so long in arriving that I started running toward Third avenue in an effort to learn whether there had been an accident which had delayed it's arrival.
 AS I started running the machine rounded the corner of Third avenue and Twenty first street. I then beckoned to the crew with my fire helmet, hoping to impress them with the necessity of all possible haste. Upon their arrival my
 
 men on the top floor to be rescued.
 'The majority of the crew of this ma chine have been connected with the de- artment numbers of years. are prac- ticed regularly and skilled in the hand ling of the machine. Although by this time the victims of the fire were totally obscured from our view by the smoke, we began a frantic effort to get our ladders to them. We were delayed by a guy wire which supports the trolley. which had to be cut, but other than this there was no more time consumed in putting up the ladder than was actually required to attach the cranSs and raise the base ladder, attach the lever and revolve the turntable, turning the ladders to the building, and attach the cranks and raise the extension ladder.
 Tn the meantime the net was taken from the machine and manned by members of the fire department. police officers and citizens who were trying to assist, and carried to the sidewalk next to the burn ing building. but before the net was got ten in position, and before we had sue ceeded in raising the extension to our ladder. I was advised by some one that the men had fallen. after which I gave my first thought and the first moment of my time to the fire Respectfulv sub mitted. A. V. BENNETT.
 Chief Fire Department.
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