Evening star., 1942-11-10
FireUnitsGaiin
New Status in
D. +. Defense
Nozi Incendiory Bomb
Which ExpIodes Gives
Watchers Vital Task

"A new Hre-Qe1enSe organization
destined to become the largest sin
gle unit in civilian protective serv-
ices will be developed to replace
fire watchers because of Germany's
explosive-incendiary bomb, Office of
Civilian Defense specialists predict
ed yesterday.
Fire watchers were originally in
tended to spot fires unaccompanied
by blasts, but the new bomb with
its explosive charge makes more
training necessary than the average
householder is likely to have. The
fire watchers have been handed the
new role.
When Germany's use of the new
weapon was announced by OCD it
was indicated that a training pro-
gram to match it would have to be
developed. One of the essentials of
the training will be instruction in
the relative value of various protec-
tive measures in attacking the
bomb.
Has Trailed Wardens.
In the District, as elsewhere, the
fire watcher service has trailed far
behind the warden organization, of
which 1t is part. Deputy wardens
have been reluctant to turn over
promising volunteers to the smaller
service.
Starting late, however, has given
the District one advantage. The
role of the fire watcher has been Wis
ualized here as fire-fighting rather
than merely fire spotting one
Haywood Saunders, assistant to the
chief air raid warden in charge of
fire watchers, said 2,347 volunteers
had been recruited at last report.
He is figuring on five to six fire
watchers block and in some neigh
borhoods, as many as 10, where the
type of buildings requires it. In ad-
dition to fire patrols, there will be
spoilers at locations he will help Sc
lect with the deputy wardens in each
area. The number of spoilers will
be determined largely by the terrain.
In level area, for instance, one
spotter on an elevated post might
be able to see fires in an area of four
blocks by 10 blocks Hilly areas
would take more watchers.
Work to Be Vital.
AS planned by OCD officials, the
demands of the new enemy bomb
will make the new fire defense Or
ganization one of the top jobs in the
defense picture.
Probably there is no job on the
home front" said one official, which
will give civilians as much action
as this one"
He said there was no point in
minimizing the danger of the work.
When British firefighters tackled the
new bomb, there were 200 casualties
caused by the few of the new type
that fell.
Householders will still have to
fight the bomb where there is imme-
diate danger OF fire getting out of
control, but fire guard on the alert
in block-by block setup probably
would get to the scene before the
danger became acute.
THE danger from these new
bombs is much greater than from
the purely incendiary bombs," an
| official explained. You could make
mistakes with the other but it would
be pretty dangerous to make mis-
takes here. You could get tclose
enough to the other bomb to apply
sand. Now you have to protect
yourself against bomb fragments"
New Bomb Described.
Called by the British the anti
personnel incendiary. the new bomb
differs from the ordinary incendiary
in size and weight. The old type
was IA inches long and weighed 2
pounds. The bombs dropped on
Britain of the new type are 81
inches long and weigh pounds.
The difference in size and weight is
accounted for by the explosive
charge which functions like a hand
grenade. A time fuse in the bomb
fires a detonator which in turn
fires the main explosive charge in
the nose of the bomb. Though a
delayed charge, it has never
been known to explode after seven
minutes.
A thick brick wall is the best pro-
lection while fighting the API, but
if a person lies or crouches behind
whatever shelter is available some
protection will be afforded since the
SDlinterS f1V inward