Evening star., 1945-07-29

Saving Men and Ships
The man who knows more about that
miraculous story than any one else is
big, tough. quiet-Spoken IriShman
named Harold j. Burke. A fireman for
20 years before he entered the Navy
four and a half years ago, Comdr. Burke,
Al. heads the Nays Fire Damage Con-
troll Service. In this post it's his job to
wage a far-flung war against fire to
save men and ships guard essential
supplies and keep the offensive moving
inexorably against the Japs.
Occasionally you can find Comdr.
Burke in his small Office in the Navy's
Bureau of Ships in Washington. But
he doesn't like an office and admits it.
Since he began to set up the Fire
Damage Control Service right after
Pearl Harbor he has spent more than
a year overseas mostly in forward areas.
The man who sits back at desk and
tries to do a job like this would be
foolish" he says. What you have to
do is 60 out and see what needs to be
done and then try to figure out how
to do it or get some one to help"
Fire Damage Control Service
Since the Fire Damage Control Serv-
ice was organized. 100000 Navy men
have been given fire. protection training
Scores of thousands have received ad-
vanced courses for specialized jobs.
Three hundred officers and 800 en-
listE men-virtually all from the ranks
OF peacetime fire-fghting services
serve with the feet IN the organized
Interpretation program. Those men
are carrying out a job which the Navy
clNeitS with saving the lives of thou
sands Of men every month, plus many
millions of dollars worth OF equipment.
Under Comdr. Burkes leadership,
sensational new fire. fighting methods
have been put into use, new equipment
developed and training revolutionized.
What the naval men have learned about
quenching flames is bound to have i'm
portant postwar applications in munich
pal fire-fighting programs.
Fire Hazards Multiplied
Modern warfare has multiplied fire
hazards at sea Before the United States
entered the war, the British Navy had
suffered fearful losses from fire. Amerl-
can naval planners decided the feet
must have a modernlzed fire-hghting
program to cope with new problems
After looking over the field of available
men. Admiral Chester w. Nimitz put
his finger on Comdr. Burke, then skip
per of the Gull. minesWeeper on duty
with the Atlantic Fleet.
Admiral Nimitz never publicly an
nounced why he chose Harold Burke
for the job but it's not hard to figure
out the reason. Probably no one in the
country was better qualified for the post
When called into the Navy in January
l94l, Comdr. Burke was deputy chief of
the New York Fire Department. For
nine years before that he had been COM
mander of the important Marine Divi-
sion, charged with protecting New
Yorks miles of wharveS and docks. and
the shipping which piled Americas S
greatest port
He Talks Their Language
Though one of the foremost authori-
ties on hre-fghting techniques and
equipment, Harold Burke has much in
common with the Nations million-odd
run of -the-mine volunteer and paid
smoke eaters. He talks their language
and still likes to go out and fight fire
himself Son Of a New York judge, he
attended the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and started out as a rookie
fireman in the New York Fire De-
partment at %. That was right after
he got out of the Navy following the
last war Passing civil service eXamina-
tions, he gradually progressed through
four grades of fremen to lieutenant,
and thence to captain, battalion chief
and acting deputy chief He was made
deputy chief in 1888
When he sat down to a desk in Wash
ington after his appointment as head