Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-12

Right, H. E. Marin, another fire alarm {
TOR A years Lew" Mothersead
- has been listening for fire alarms.
A member of that little COM
Il pany which stands never-ending
watch over the f1re-police signal
system Of the Capital. Mothersead has
stayed at his controls through the years,
directing the movements of fire fighting
units as a chess player shifts his pawns.
Now he's about through. The law
has stepped in-the law which gauges
worth by age
| And when Mothersead goes, another
link between the old order and the new
will be severed. for Lew" Is a veteran
of the veterans in this service.
To the uninitiated the fire board, "
as it is familiarly known, is Just another
branch Of municipal government, whose
duties are more or less vaguely under
stood.
But try to do without it.
Notifies All Companies.
Here's the way it actually works. AS
soon as the alarm box is pulled, light
flashes On the receiving board at head
quarters, and device like telegraph
key taps out the number of the box.
The operator jumps to the transmitting
board and throws a lever which notifies
every company in the city that an
alarm Is coming. so they can be ready
to move II necessary.
AS the tapping signal is completed,
thus identifying the box. the operator
moves over to the repeater cuts in the
circuit on which the alarm is coming,
and then the gong in every company
sounds.
Each company has certain calls to
which it responds. Those due to move
on the first alarm go out, while the
! others remain in readiness TO move up
either as support at the fire itself or in
relief for a company in service.
Meanwhile, another operator at
headquarters has plugged in an IL
! Illuminated board which shows what
! units have responded to the first alarm,
| and a third man is ready to take
station at telephone connection with
the box that has been turned in, thus
putting headquarters in direct touch
| with the scene of the blaze, and, in
cidentally, putting the entire head
| quarters staff at work.
Calls Additional Apparatus.
The chief first at the fire details an
aide with a portable phone at the box,
and in this way calls for additional
apparatus are sent in, the operator at
the headquarters pulling second, third,
fourth and fifth alarms as may be or
! dered.
While additional alarms are coming
| in. one of the men at headquarters
! continues to throw the numbers on
| the illuminated board to keep instant
| check on the whereabouts OF every
piece of apparatus, a matter OF vital
! Importance should another fire break
out.
And II 1t so happens that several
alarms come in, then the operators
really have their hands full for 1t
is up to them to know when every
| scheduled company has moved out Of
| quarters. that they may call others
for duty if needed for not only must
the fires themselves be taken care of,
| but no section of the city must be LETT
unprotected.
Nor does the responsibility of the
operators end with the mechanics OF
the signal system, as was well Illus
! trated one night several years ago when
fire broke out in building at Howard
| University, extended to a nearby lum-
Der yard and then to the NationaS'
park, where part of the stands went.
IA Boxes Were Pulled.
Mothersead was in charge that night.
and he is inclined to think that hali
the population of Washington turned
in alarms-or tried to. Just exactly
IA boxes were pulled. From the gen.
Grafton location, Mothersead was fair
ly certain that all were going In Tor
the same blaze, and as five alarms
already had been turned in from head
quarters, bringing f1re-fighting units
| In Pif
chance and held up" the boxes, realiz-
ing that the whole region there was
already congested with apparatus, and
that it was a virtual imposSibility to
| get any more in. Further, 1t seemed
reasonable to believe that If another
fire was breaking out there were so
many companies in the vicinity 1t
| would not go unnotlced.
Finally, an alarm came in from Eighth
and N, and thinking this too far out OF
the zone of trouble. Mothersead called
additional companies. When they got to
this box, however, it developed that
some one had grown nervous and pulled
1t for the same fire.
But If my guess had been wrong on
those other boxes it would have been too
bad" says Mothersead,
Calls Nearest Company.
There's another angle to this fire.
alarm system, too. Some one phones in
about blaze, and 1t is up to the opera
tor to call by phone to the nearest COM
pany, and then to signal over the
transmitting board to all other COM
panies that this unit is on still" This
Immediately puts them on guard, and if
the chief responding to the call decides
that more help is needed he pulls the
box, and headquarters goes into action
as usual.
Then there is the multitude of calls
which summon the rescue squad for
duty which may range from treating a
human Ill to climbing through win
dow to open door for some citizen
who has forgotten the key. The opera
tors must also watch over the police call
boxes for trouble.
Quite change from the old days.
When MotherSead entered the service
| there were z engine companies and
3 truck companies; now the number
is 80 and Is, respectively Then there
were $50 street boxes; now there are
5000 Then there were three operators
at headquarters who worked eight hours
daily, every day in the year. Now there
are seven alarm operators, the seventh
being the relief man who works for
whichever Of the others is getting his
day on weakly. There are also four
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