The Washington herald., 1914-06-23
THE OPEN FORUM.
A Plea for Motor Fire-6shtins Ap-
paratus in Northeast.

| To the Editor: II Is with considerable
| interest that have noted the motorizing
OF several OF the engine and truck COM
panles Of our local fre-hghting Depart
ment. hope to see the, day when the
good old horse is supplahted by power
driven machinery in every IRE house in
\ the District OF Columbia, as with the in
stallation OF each new piece OF apparatus
so much more Is attained towahd that
! efficiency that some day may result In
the local department being recognized
as one OF the greatest in the country.
| Unstinted praise is deserving 10 those
who have succeeded in procuring the few
| pieces of modern apparatus which the
city can now boast Of. but ] honestly
believe tkat II efficiency is to be the
grave mistake Is being made In placing
motor apparatus ION parade'% In the
downtown district.
| A little study of the situation will show
that while the efficiency OF the depart
ment has no doubt been bettered by the
| placing of power-driyen apparatus in
some downtown houses. there are COM
panies in the outlying districts that are
in far greater need Of these more modern
piece OF hre-fighting machinery than
some Of the houses that It is contem-
plated to motoTiZe.
I am not agitating the transfer Of tire
apparatus now installed to other houses.
but while those who are making the
recommendation for the new apparatus
available under the l9i4-15 appropriation
may have decided upon its location, IL
seems 10 me that there is one section OF
the city that is in sore need OF better
fire protection than is now afforded. I
! speak Of Northeast Washington, incIud-
Nh,W .EAN
Anacostia River. embracing Burrville,
Benning. Deanwood. Kenilworth, and
Capitol Heights.
Just how badly the need Of motor ap-
paratus in Engine Company No. 10 really
u. has been illustrated upon no less than
two occasions within the last three
months Sometime in March or April.
FIRE was discovered in a row Of houses
on Benning road about three-quarters OF
a mile beyond the Pennsylvania Railroad
tracks. The first company to get upon
the ground. then Chemical Company, No.
!. found upon laying out their hose that
they were still over 1900 feet from the
fire, the result being that they had to
call upon Engine Companies No. and
10 for assistance. The run from No. les
house to the railroad tracks is a little
less than two miles. From there TO the
scene OF the fire is probably. as stated
pel0Te. aDOut anOtneT tnTee-quarterS OF a
mile. You may well imagine the run this
company and No. S had to make, and also
that No. had a mile more to travel than
the No. 10 company, the difference be
tween the oCatiOn Of the two houses. 1t
takes no stretch OF the imagination to
sec that IL motorized No. 10 company
could have carried a sufficient amount of
hose TO the FIRE in less than ten minutes
after notification. that would have re-
suited in a saving Of at least nine Of the
eleven houses which were destroyed.
While il is impossible to determine the
running time Of either No s or No. 10
companies IL is safe TO place the estimate
at over twenty minutes.
/ understand that since this fire. an
order has been issued effective June /.
whereby Engine Company No. 10 is to
respond on all box alarms in that section
EAST Of the river. A little calculation will
show that the distances between this
company's quarters and Benning is two
miles. DeanvOOd. three miles; kenil-
worth. three and one-half miles. and
Capitol Heights almost five miles. In
Eenilworth alone there are four boxes
that will average over three miles from
No. les house, short runs compared TO
those this same company was compelled
to make a little more than three weeks
ago when they were called to Sixty-frSt
and c streets northeast, a distance by