Milford chronicle., 1937-10-29
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The loss of your home by fire. Il
you live out from town in the coun.
try, can be the direct result of the
poor condition of the road that pass
es your door. Farm-to-market roads
that have not been improved and
hard surfaced have a habit of going
to pieces in bad weather. l remem-
Der a case in Delaware. l was at
that time engineer for the dupont
highway. One night 1 was returning
by car to my headquarters town in
the south-central part of the State.
Rain had been falling heavily, on and
OFF, for about three days and nights,
and the condition of the unimproved
road over which was forced to
travel made driving a ticklish and
sometimes uncertain process. It was
about seven o'clock when l sloshed
around sharp curve and noticed
the red glow in the sky several miles
ahead. In that section of the State
that red glow could only mean one
thing. Some farmers house or Darn
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of the fire and found the farm fam
lily and neighbors using an antiquat-
ed hand-pump apparatus. They were
all doing their best to put out the
fire.
The house was a well-built two
story structure and the family was
frantic over what was happening to
their home. l was told by one of the
neighbors that the fire had been
small one at first, having started in
chimney near the ground floor,
and had gained headway slowly.
When 1t was seen that the flames
were going to spread over the en-
tire side of the house, the fire de-
partment in Wilmington, n few miles
away, was telezhoned for help and
every piece of furniture and cloth
ing was removed to safety. If the
fire truck had arrived in the quick
time ordinarily required for the
short trip from Wilmington, the
house would have been saved.
We watched with anxiety and
pumped with fury. but the odds were
against us in our fight to control the
steadily spreading flames with such
Inadequate fire-fighting equipment.
All that was left to do was to wait
for the fire-fghting apparatus from
the city and hope that 1t would ar
rive in time. Expectant ears strained |
to hear the engine roar and siren 1
that would announce its approach |
and smarting eyes kept looking (
down the road for headlights they /
hoped would be those of the overdue
fire truck.
The farmer and his family were ]
into speechless detection at /
the sight of their home being de- !
voured by flames that they were !
powerless to extinguish. That home /
burned to the ground that night be-
cause the chemical fire apparatus
from Wilmington failed to arrive. 1t
bogged down to the axles on mud
dy stretch of road only six miles
away. No, the road could lot have
damage to the house to
certain extent, but it was TO blame
for the total loss of the house.
your uOuIS, IL yOu A'S ~A
on an unimproved subsidl-
ary road, could be lost by fire the
;ame way. This is but another rea-
ION why the Congress of the United
states included in it's federal-aid ap-
for highways a stipulat-
ID sum for secondary or farm-to-
market roads. Twenty-Five million
Iollars has been set aside for the i'm
of back roads through
lew all-weather construction and
,roper maintenance. II is wise,
therefore,, for those who legislate the
of road funds within the
arious states to give careful con-
liberation to the road needs OF the I
armers an dothers who make tier I
ONES and their living on the back \
Dads of America. f
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