Evening star., 1953-07-20
Fire al Basin
Is Extinguished
Despite Snags
Maryland Volunteers
FIGHT Mock BIuze in
Civil Defense Test
By Richord Rodgers

Some cues were muffed in a
Civil Defense f1re-f1ghting re-
hearsal at the Tidal Basin yes
terday, but the director said his
cast did all right in spite of
them. And the finale included 18
hoselines shooting 1000 gallons
a minute.
About 500 volunteer rlrenen
from five Maryland counties
were there. practicing for the
time the District may need them
to battle bomb blaze or some
other outsize fire.
Chief Instructor Clarence
Quick of the Washington Fire
Department wrote yesterdays
play. His script had a fire
storm" working in the District.
A fire storm. he explained,
sucks oxygen into itself with
terrible force.
Water Mains "Ruptured".
Fire storms broke out when
bombers attacked cities during
War II, he said. Winds stirred
by the storms were strong
enough to pull men into the
flames, he said.
So there at the Tidal Basin
was the make-believe fire storm.
Water mains nearby were sup
posed to be ruptured. bumpers
were needed to relay water from
other sources.
The call went out for help
from Maryland.
The Civil Defense mutual aid
area for Washington includes
Montgomery, Prince Georges.
Charles. Calvert and st. Marys
Counties in Maryland, and
Alexandria and Falls Church and
Arlington and Fairfax Counties
in Virginia. The Virginians will
have their practice later.
The SOS was for 81 bumpers.
The Maryland State Civil De-
fense Sub-Control Center at
College Park called the counties,
and the trucks headed for as
Sembly points.
1t wasn't a surprise drill. The
f1remen were waiting for the call.
The conveys moved into four
Task Force Points" in the Dis
trict, and then to the Tidal
Basin.
But somewhere along the line
there was a mixup.
Two Hours Behind Schedule.
At one time the action was two
hours behind schedule, said Dis
trict Civil Defense Director John
E. Fondahl. He said he wasn't
blaming any one specifically. The
voluneer companies were ready,
he added; the mixup was in COM
munications. The bottleneck will
be located when all the reports
are in, he said.
But at last the big red rigs
started rolling in-78 pieces Of
apparatus. counting the Dis
trict's. They wheeled onto the
Independence avenue bridge and
on streets near.the lagoon.
At this point the pretense
about the broken mains became
complicated. Lines were fixed to
the useless" hydrants, but now
the hydrants were accepted as
operable because they were pre-
sumed to be not near the Tidal
Basin, but blocks away.
The f1remen put down more
than six miles of hose, connect
ing them between relay pump
ers. -Four bumpers dropped lines
into the lagoon to draw water
from there and relay it to the
firing line on the bridge.
The vehicles were parked close
together to give as many men
and pumps as possible a role
in the exercise but still keep
them inside small area. That
many bumpers could lay Is miles
of hose at a real fire, Director
Fondahl said.
175,00O Gallons of Water.
The fiat canvas lengths writhed
and became swollen as the pumps
roared, and on the bridge 18
shining nozzles threw 18 arches
OF water out into the Tidal Basin
A sweating volunteer on a relay
pumper grinned. Now that" ne
said, sis what I'd call a lot of
water"
The men in charge let the
pumps work about Is minutes,
roughly 175.000 gallons worth.
Then they rang the curtain down.
Firemen uncoupled the lines,
reeled and folded them back
aboard the trucks and took of
for home.
II think it worked out very
WE'LL" Director Fondahl said.