Evening star., 1943-09-19
District FHemen, Two of 90 in War Service Halted Blaze
Menocing Ketchikon; Others Have Stond-Ou Roles
BY JOE RICHMAN.

am. at their headquarters in Ketch
ikan, Alaska, made Chief Petty OF
| f1cers Wesley B, Allen and George F
Hickey of the Coast Guard react jus
as they did when attached to No.
Engine Company of the Fire Depart
ment in Washington.
They hit the floor and ran alont
while dressing in the cold Apri
morning. The Coast Guard laundr!
two large frame buildings-at tn,
United States outpost was on fire
The lives of 80 Coast Guardsmer
sleeping in the buildings were en-.
dangered. So were two other fran,
buildings, church and most of tn.
town, which is built on pilings.
With their three pieces of fire.
fighting apparatus and two of thu
three firemen employed by Ketchi.
kan they changed through the towr
toward the blazing buildings. The
fire department volunteers, com.
posed from the local citizenry, woult
wake up and come later.
But the former Washington fire.
men didn't wait. They had been as
signed by the Coast Guard to head
the local fire department, and they
had job to do.
Kept Tank From Exploding.
Allen rushed in through the laun-
dry's front entrance with hose
Hickey galloped up a stairway be-
tween the laundry and furniture
store with another hose. Both
finally were forced back, but they
kept the flames away from an oil
tank atop the building until 1t
could be pulled down and away
from the fire.
~~ Meanwhile the volunteers were ar
irving and II lines were brought to
play on the blaze, equivalent to a
four alarm fire in the District" AL
but several of the men in the build
ing escaped Six Of them jumped
from window into a creek 80 feet
below-and luckily the tide was in.
Hickey was overcome once while
on ladder, but wrenched free from
helpers to go back to work. He was
severely burned on one arm and suf-
fered cuts on his arms, legs and
hands.
At another point Allen was pulled
away from the inferno when he was
overcome by smoke and fought his
way free from rescuers. Later dur
ing the fire Allen "lost his false
teeth-and sure did look comical," "
Hickey wrote. Only two buildings
were lost and the town was saved.
When the two men were later
commended for. their bravery a
leading citizen told them, IF that's
the way they fight fires In Washing
ton I don't think I would like to
belong to that outfit" Since then
the two men have received other
concentrations for their work, but
the team was split up recently.
Allen was moved on to fire-fighting
work at Sitka. Hickey remained at
Ketchikan.
SO on Leave for War.
Their story graphically tells the
story of SO former District flremen
who are on leave and several others
who resigned from the department
to enter the armed forces and mer-
chant marine.
Approximately rs per cent Of these
men are still engaged in flre-fighting
and fire. protection work. Many Of
them are serving as f1re-fighting in
structors, several are protecting vital
harbcrs and others are heading are
fighting stations.
or te. entire groups44 are In the
Coast Guard, 10 are in the. Army.
13 are in the Navy, IL are in the
Army Air Force, 2 are in the Mer-
chant Marine and / is in the Marine
Corps.
With hut few exceptions, the for
mer Washington firemen are either
commissioned or ranking non-com-
missioned officers. Two Of them hold
the rank of lieutenant commander
in the Navy. They are 1t. Comdr.
Richard E. S. Boss, formerly Of En-
gine IL, who is in charge Of fire pro-
lection for the entire Potomac area
and 1t. Comdr. John L. Werheim,
formerly of Engine IA, who is in
charge of fire protection for the Nor
folk area.
Activities Of the former firemen
are varied and often make them the
topic of bull sessions" at the city's
80 engine houses. They range every
where from those of 1t. I. j. Brade-
camp, formerly of Truck 20, who was
seriously burned in an explosion in
Panama, to those of Warrant Officer
G. M. Sonny" Burdine, of Engine
IL, an outstanding athletic star at
Eastern High School, who is aiding
1t. Comdr. Jack Dempsey with his
physical fitness program at Sleeps
head Bay, N. Y.
Kirchmyer, Trey Stand Out.
Among almost a dozen men who
have received special commenda- =
tions, the stories of 1t. Is. e. Rob-
ert II. Kirchmyer, formerly Of En-
gine 81, and Warrant Officer John
Trey, resigned, formerly of Engine
10, stand out.
1t. Kirchmyer is in charge of a
special school at Pearl Harbor to
xE;1,,ro:n C:@:r.