WPBFD History

books," but nothing was ever done to correct the situation. The program finally fizzled into the history books. Four engine compa- nies responded to a fire at Helen Hoffman Car- pet Distributors at 3:24 a.m. on May 13, 1974. The fire had burned un- noticed for a long period of time, using all of the available oxygen in the enclosed structure. The fire smoldered, creating intense heat with mini- mum flames. When fresh air found its way into the building a back draft explosion oc- curred, blowing the front plate glass windows out into the street. After extinguishment firefighters found that the file cabinets in the bookkeeper's office had been left open and the contents destroyed. The fire, which started in the same office, was carried cated at 3301 Electronics Way, presented a danger- ous situation for firefight- ers on the afternoon of August 6, 1974. Hydro- gen gas cylinders were burning in close prox- imity to a tank truck con- taining anhydrous ammo- nia. Nearby was a storage rack holding fifty hydro- gen gas cylinders, three trucks loaded with thirty- four hydrogen gas cylin- ders each, and a hydrogen manufacturing plant. The roar of the escaping gas could be heard for

fore their initiation was complete. One man stood shaking on the parapet for twenty min- utes, leaning out and then suddenly pulling back. He hesitated at least a dozen times be- fore finally taking the plunge. Only one man ever flatly refused to make the jump. The practice was abandoned because of safety factors. 1974 Chief Kennedy wanted to improve the physical condition of his firefighters. There was little doubt that some desperately needed it, although the overall con- dition had improved by the recent hiring of younger personnel to fill the ranks. Kennedy im- plemented the Canadian Royal Air Force 5BX exercise program which required all personnel to ning in place. The num- ber of repetitions were increased at regular inter- vals to build endurance. At first the company offi- cers charged with over- seeing the program were diligent in their duties, but as was the case in many of the station rou- tines, they soon left the men to exercise on their own. It was sometimes comical when the training officers would stop by to verify compliance. It was easy to pick out those who were "padding the

View from the window of life net jump.

as suspicious. West Palm Beach had only a limited number of in- dustrial type occupancies, but the few that were operating in the city limits posed serious fire problems. IT&T, lo-

complete eleven minutes of exercises each duty day and record their progress in a special log for that purpose. The program consisted of eight basic exercises such as deep knee bends, sit-ups, leg lifts, toe touches, and run-

Helen Hoffman Carpets. 2