Evening star., 1953-10-05
300 Firen1en
Stage Afraid
Defense Drill
ReIoying Exercise
At Census Bureau
Calls Out 36 Stations
By Richord Rogers

~ ~SN ~ SA0NbOuS
By Riehord Rogers
More than 800 Maryland fire.
men put on show at the Census
Bureau Office in Suitland yester-
day to prove it wasn't their fault
they looked bad in a similar drill
at the Tidal Basin in July.
They put down a lot more line
in a lot less time at Suitland
than they did in the District.
This second exercise had three
goals:
Celebrating Fire Prevention.
Week, which opened yesterday;
Giving the volunteers practice
in moving water long distances
by relays of bumpers;
Convincing them they can
whip such a job faster than they
did in July. Then. volunteer
companies sat around doing
nothing, waiting for orders to
move in on the fire. Confusion
in transmitting the orders de-
layed Maryland companies more
than two hours.
36 Companies in Action.
There was nothing like that
yesterday. The sirens started
screaming at 8 am, and by 10:3O
am. SO companies were in action
on the scene. One outfit made
about a 40-mile run to get there.
Joel Sonnabend of Riverdale
Heights was boss of the affair.
He's civil defense deputy for fire
service in Prince Georges County.
All but two of the 33 Prince
Georges companies participated.
Montgomery County sent six
pump companies and the Bethes-
da-based Capital Areas Disaster
Squad.
The big job yesterday was
tying 18 bumpers into a single
line to get water from a gravel
pit at Morningside to the
Census Bureau, 3.6 miles away.
Another chain of firewagonS
relayed a stream about 21a miles
from Henson Greek in Morning.
side, and a third line of trucks
fetched water from a plug or
miles distant. Still other equip
ment hooked onto nearer fire.
plugs.
There were some mixups. But
mixups were expected; the drill
was staged so bugs could be
ironed out.
Long Lines Do Well.
Robert c. Byrus, director Of
the University of Maryland'S
Fire Extension Service, agreed
the production was a success.
One pumps engine had .
short circuit, said a co-ordinator
in charge of a relay. And when
one link goes bad the whole
chain shuts down. But the fault
was fixed quickly.
The hoSelines held up better
than expected, examiners re-
ported. Only one section of so
feet went bad, out of the
thousands of feet involved.
One professional observer
noted that several companies
made mistakes in their hose con-
nections. coupling intake lines
to discharge valves in the con.
fusion OF. operating under such
an unusual condition. He said
things we're Strengthened out
quickly, though.
Mr.. Sonnabend emphasized
that the men weren't bucking
for a speed record. Even so, the
task went off at a good clip, he
said. The 3.6-mile line, for in
stance, had to be laid along a
narrow road where the big red
rigs squeezed past each other
with all hands gripping hand
rails a bit tighter than usual.
Ambulances Are Used.
Ambulances were used as COM
n1unlcations trucks. Takoma
Park also furnished turret
truck whose radio receives and
transmits from both Montgom-
cry and Prince Georges counties.
The Census Bureau didn't fig
ure in the exercise because Of
any strategic Importance. The
drill was a civil defense practice.
but the mock bombing didn't
figure Importantly in the work.
The Census Bureau headquar-
ters at Suitland happened to fit
several requirements. It's Suit
land road parking lot provided a
big open area where firetruckS
would interfere least with ordi-
nary traffic.
The parking lot is an accept
able distance from a source Of
raw water. Drillmasters used the
gravel pit and the creek to save
the drinking water that flows
through flreplug pipes.
The terrain also has the diff
erent obstacles the firemen want
ed-the ups and downs which af-
feet hose pressures, and so on.
The pumper from Beallsville.
in Upper Montgomery County.
came the longest distance.
Other Montgomery County
participants were from Cabin
John, Burtonsville, Sandy Spring