The Wilmington morning star., 1947-03-30
Assistance Chief Cuts
Losses Caused By Water

March, 1899, West took over as
first assistant chief.
He says that much Of his train
ing has come from self-instruction
and personal observations made in
his rs years of service. One of
the biggest problems in the fire
mems training program now, he
says, is breaking the men of their
fear of heights. The six story
brick tower at the main station
is used for this. Here they get
practice in climbing ropes and
ladders, scaling walls, and jump
ing into nets.
When fighting his first fires,
Chief West was appalled, at the
high losses resulting from water,
when fire damage was relatively
low. Following this cue, he studied
scientific methods of fighting
fires, with an eye to keeping fire
losses to a minimum.
Now when firemen arrive at a
fire, instead of Immediately shoot
ing water in and at the building,
they get the smoke cleared as
much as possible to find the
| source of the blaze. Then comes
the torrent of water, aimed to kill
the fire in short order. With this
system fire losses have been re-
duced as much as 80 per cent.
In the chiefs memory are hum
dreds Of fires, from small grass
fires to ~infernos that Quilted build
lings to the core. And from them
The has evolved his own theory on
cycles of depression and prosperi-
ty.
He believes that in lean years,
when jobs and money are scarce,
there will be many fires. And in
years of plenty there will be rela-
lively few fires. He proposes sew
eral reasons to explain his theory.
During a depression, he says, peo-
pie are careful where they spend
an extra penny, and that's when
buildings become most vulnerable
to fire. When business is good,
more money is spent on urkeep
and cleaning. AS a result, build
ings are inspected more often and
are less subject to fire. Another
POSSIBLE reason he. cautiously ad-
vances for the cycle is the desire
to cash in on fire insurance dur
ing a depression.
The Barrel Factory fire in 1925
was Chief Vests first big job. The
factory burned to the ground While
a southwest wind carried sparks
that started new fires in over 100
houses. The Chief handled a hose
alone in one of the houses, and
although the roof was eventually
burned away, he stayed with 1t
until the fire was out.
At the nitrate fire in 1929 at
the foot of Hanover street he op-
Grated a pump and handled hose,
as he was needed. The whole
building, which was about a block
SQUARE, burned to the ground.
1.-THE oldest feeling l have ever
had at a fire was the night of
December z, 1884," he says. 1T
was Just after we heard about
Pearl Harbor." A tanker loaded
with gasoline tied up at a terml-
:.al was ablaze, and he was among
the first to get there.
eWhen l went aboard flames
we're shooting up from the deck
! houses on both ends of the ship
and the whole crew was getting
off as fast as they could. l Won
dered if 1 was going to be the
only n left aboard"
But other firemen arrived and
a few crewmen were mustered TO
help fight the blae. Fuel lines
were closed, a barage tied to the
ship was set adrift, and IN ABOUT
an hour the fire was "uckeo.
Even when West is off his Il
hour daily stretch, an alarm IN
his home sounds whenever a IRE
breaks out anywhere in Whining
ton.
Being a fireman and having the
responsibility of first assistant
chief is not an easy job. It re-
ouires an alert mind and body "a
hours a day.