WPBFD History

Beach Fire Department went into training on May 27, 1975. Joe Ma- loney, Charles Penerton, and Walter Byrd went through their five weeks of training and were assigned to crews at the end of June earning $798 a month. At the time there were 119 firemen manning five stations. Wal- ter Byrd, a former marine and Viet Nam veteran, would be the only one of the three to make a career out of firefighting. He was later promoted to driver/engineer and then lieutenant on April 12, 1992. (Walter Byrd died of a heart attack on August 3, 1999). Kennedy assumed the job of finding a location for a new training facility. Funds that had been set aside by the commission for this purpose under Chief Sloan were still available. Knowing that a central location was imperative, Kennedy turned down

blocks. To make matters worse, the burning hydrogen could not be seen. Only when the fire ignited one of the trailers were actual flames visible. Firemen covered the exposed tanks with a fog pattern of water, creeping closer to the potential disaster until a valve to the ruptured fill pipe could be closed. Hose streams then put out the fire in the trailer. Personnel on the scene were wondering how or why they had ever gotten into this line of work. 1975 At 4:34 a.m. on Monday, Janu- ary 13, 1975, firefighters arrived at Holiday Marine, 6605 South Dixie Highway, reporting heavy fire in the building that had once been a gas station. Flames were quickly doused

IT&T fire

several proposed locations before settling on a triangular piece at the intersection of Florida Mango Road and Okeechobee Boulevard in the fall of 1974. This site pro- vided easy access for all stations and allowed for quick response to alarms while companies were conducting drills. Kennedy recognized the importance of proficiency in

in spite of the noxious smoke from burning fiberglass boats. Boats worth $65,000 were destroyed and the fire was determined to be arson. This time the culprit, who had poured gasoline throughout the structure, was appre- hended and convicted. The nation was gearing up for the 1976 bicentennial celebration. Patty

McKnight, a West Palm Beach interior decorator, had an idea to dress-up fire hydrants by painting them to portray historic people. She received permission to begin with the hydrants surround- ing the Palm Beach Mall. Soon there were soldiers, Indians, redcoats, and Uncle Sams scattered throughout the parking lot. Her idea came from Charleston, South Carolina, where the hydrants in a restored sec- tion of the city were painted to resemble English bobbies. With well over a thousand hydrants in West Palm Beach, she would need a lot of help to complete the pro- ject. The first black fire- fighters on the West Palm

emergency situations and was determined to have a first class facility. A four- story CBS drill tower, com- plete with standpipe, sprin- kler system, enclosed stair- well, and classroom was erected. A one story burn building was built nearby. Streets inside the facility were named for firefighters who had assisted in the work. One of the major undertak- ings at the new training facil- ity was the drafting pond. A large corrugated "target" pipe was built to funnel water from master hose streams back into the pond. In order to pour the concrete base of the target, water in the pond had to be pumped out. Pum- per 300, an old reserve Peter

New training facility

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