Evening star., 1926-05-09
BY GEORGE PORTER.
Ill looks so easy.

i ALL looks SO easy.
When the sirens shrek. and
the traffic stops, and the automo-
i hiles Of the Fire Department
come dashing down the street;
and when the blaze is reached, and
The hose attached. and the ladders run
up. and the work of rescue and ex-
tinction begins-it all looks SO easy.
But like the graceful movements OF
an athlete, or the smooth presenta-
tion OF "A drama, or the picturesque
parade Of a body of troops. the eft1-
cient, machine-like maneuvers Of the
Fire Department in action may look
easy, while in reality they are results
which can be obtained only by long
hours OF hard work and study.
That the loud-sounding fire truck
sped through the streets from its
headquarters by the most direct route
20 the scene OF the fire was no mere
sCcident. That il Was driven without
Hesitation to the correct fire plug was
40 chance happening. Each man did
The right thing in the right way. and
at the right time. All of these per
fOrmanCes were made possible through
first hand, theoretical and practical
knowledge Of the requirements OF
Just such an emergency. acquired by
The personnel of the Fire Department
through daily routine drill and prep
aration.
One hour out of every II is spent
ny each of the % engine and l3 truck
companies which, together with a few
important auxiliary machines, COM
prise the Washington fire brigade. in
what is commonly called skull prac-
lice" consisting as ii does largely Of
instruction in the location of fire
boxes. hvdrants. alleys, etc. in the
territory covered by that particular
In, har l. frr-n
hour weekly drill by the men on each
piece of apparatus, during which the
circumstances attendant upon an ac-
tual fire are presumed to exist.
For the past three years practices
Of this sort have been a feature Of
the local f1remen's work. They were
originally established and are at pres
ent conducted by Drill Master Thomas
OConnor, formeer chief of the 2d Bat
TALON and a man of 30 years expert
rnce with the force. At the sugges-
tion of Chief Watson. head Of Wash
ingtons Fire Department, Mr..
O'Connor was sent to Boston to make
a study OF the system Of drills used
there, that he might model the train
ing of the Capital City's firemen along
The same lines. More recently Chief
O'Connor has visited several cities for
the same general purpose. always re-
betterment OF Washington's methods,
although not always able to put the
idea into effect becausefof the small |
ness of congressional appropriations |
for such uses.
One of the present plans. which |
chief Watson and other officials of the |
force hope to put across. has to do |
with the establishment of a drill !
school that would give uniform train |
ing to every member of the depart |
ment. An important part Of the |
equipment of such a school would be |
a tower six stories high, which would |
afford an opportunity TO teach the
men to climb, an accomplishment at
present limited almost exclusively to
members of truck companies. So thor
ough would be the course in the pro-
posed school in mechanics. hydraulics.
and other highly specialized subjects
with which the efficient modern fire
man should be familiar that a man
who had passed through it's course
would be capable of serving with
equal proNiency on any machine to
which he might be assigned.
Lacking the facilities TO turn out
such all-around finished products,
Chief OConnor has gone ahead with
the resources at his disposal and made
the best Of them. He has arranged
a program SO that every morning and
afternoon, except on Saturdays and
Sundays, one company from each bat
TALON is going through its weekly
outdoor drill.