Evening star., 1924-10-08

What this city needs is not sc
much Fire Prevention week" as
fire. prevention year; not so much or
ganized propaganda for few day.
as day-by-day thinking about fire
by tho individual.
Fire!
When that cry resounds, whether
in the National Capital or in Cross
Roads Centers, the response is the
same.
Something inside one seems te
tighten up. There comes a catching
of the breath. a beating Of the heart
flushed feeling, as If the fire, ir
some mysterious way, had commu-
nicated itself to the person.
There comes a desire to run, tc
scream out Fire" 1t is an age-old
reaction to the age-old monster, al
once the enemy and the friend OF
man.
Fire, restrained, is mitch like q
kindly old lion at the Zoo. 1t can be
fed, petted, played with; let it out OF
it's cage, loose its bonds, it RACES
with true jungle ferocity, consuming
all within reach.
X
Recall F. street one fine Autumn
morning recently.
You are riding down town to office
reading your paper as you go, intent
on making your own every morsel OF
news about the great world series
game which our own ball team took
away from the Giants in the last OF
the ninth.
A great game, a great morning, a
great world,
How calm the sunshine lies over
street, thoroughfare of business
and pleasure. mart and parade
ground, Washington's one and only
F street. famous here and every
where a Washingtonian lives.
You look out the car window and
wonder idly at the haze which seems
to obscure the corner at Eleventh
street
Looks like fire." you say to a
companion, with fine disregard for
grammar and base ball.
Il guess not" he replies. Guess
IT is just somebody making a fire in
the furnace"
So you start down the street Only
d few steps have been taken, when a
clang of a bell startles you out of
your complacency.
Gosh, it is a fire.!
No man, woman or child in Wash.
ington ever ought to take a chance
on deciding whether smoke is fire OIL
not a fire.
Those early moments, when the
smoke first curls out. are perhaps
the most imDortant of all in fire.
fighting. 1t is to be there at that
time that the great fire engines are
run at breakneck speed through a
city's crowded streets, endangerine
the lives of the fire-fighters and citi.
zens.
Never take chance on smoke.
Never dismiss any smoke you see
especially in the downtown section
with statement that "It is just some
one burning papers,"
Either call the attention of Others
to it and get their opinion or call
the Fire Department and tell then
what you have seen. That puts the
responsibility up to them, and they
will be glad of 1t, for that is their
business
Here comes the first red engine
With a swish 1T glides into the curb
the already helmeted men jump down
and before the few startled early
spectators are aware what is going
on the hose is being reeled out. 1t
falls in curls and kinks on the street
You're on the hose" snaps a fire.
man as a chemical engine slides in
Quickly the engine backs. No harm
has been done. Fire hose Is tough.
Up goes a ladder. turned neatly
on its base, as deftly as you please
1t is treat to watch these bows of
the Washington Fire Department
They know what they are doing
They fight a fire the same way the
Nationals fight the Giants.