WPBFD History

ments. Alexander Stav- rou, the eighty-five year old owner of the build- ing, had accidentally filled his kerosene heater with gasoline during an early cold spell. All oc- cupants escaped safely before the interior of the building was gutted. During 1975, the need for an advanced life sup- port program in the City of West Palm Beach was realized. The entire country had been ex- posed to this type service by the popular television series Emergency . Two

Pirsh, was set-up to draft water out of the pond and a pump borrowed from public works assisted. Firefighters manned the operation around the clock for three days as the work was completed. Those who spent the night overseeing the op- eration were not particu- larly thrilled with their assignment. The ex- tended drafting severely damaged the old pumper and burned-up the bor- rowed pump. Dedication of the new Training Facility (no

Casablanca Efficiency Apartments.

local communities, Palm Beach and Boca Raton, already provided A.L.S. service through their fire departments. One problem with implementation was that the technical training was not readily available in the immediate area. Palm Beach paramedics were physician-trained at Good Samaritan Hospital, while Boca Raton sent students to Broward County. The only program available in Palm Beach County was basic life support (advanced first aid) through the Vocational Training Department of the Palm Beach County School System. Chief Kennedy was not about to enter into a pro- gram of this magnitude until a superior educational pro- gram was in place to assure continuous availability of qualified personnel. Palm Beach Junior College was at first hesitant about establishing such a curriculum, but finally relented when presented with resolutions signed by every fire chief in the county and the Palm Beach County League of Municipalities. Kennedy faced another serious problem; funds were increasingly hard to come by. Kennedy planned to imple- ment the paramedic service without the need for increased taxes to fund the project. Manpower required for the pro- gram would come from fire companies and paramedics would have both firefighting and E.M.S. duties to aug- ment the reduction of fire personnel. A bulletin dated December 23, 1975, officially noti- fied the department of the opportunity in emergency medical training. It asked for anyone interested in being considered for this field to notify the Chief's Office in writing. The bulletin mentioned that "priority should be given to our younger firefighters," and several older vet- erans who applied were turned down because of their age. It would be eighteen months before Kennedy's E.M.S. program would go into service. Kennedy wanted the entire department to be

one dared calling it a "drill field," at least not in front of Kennedy), took place on Saturday, July 12, 1975. About seventy-five people were entertained by what the Palm Beach Post Times described as a "three ring circus." Fire- fighters rappelled from the tower, extinguished propane tank fires, simulated high rise tactics, completed a roof- top rescue, attacked a fire in the burn building, and recov- ered a "dummy" from the bottom of the pond using SCUBA gear. City commissioners declined an invitation to jump into a life net. There were 4 fire deaths and 25 fire related injuries during the 1974-75 fiscal year. The fire loss of $910,902 had nearly doubled from the previous year and was the highest figure in the history of the department. Emer- gency responses passed the 1,000 mark and would con- tinue to climb at a rapid rate over the next few years. A sprinkler system once again did its job on October 24, 1975. Firefighters arriving at the Carefree Theater billiard room found that a fire had been extinguished by the automatic system. The business sustained fire, heat, and water damage, but the building had been saved by activated sprinkler heads. Fire broke out in a home at 920 Hansen Street at 3:00 on the morning of November 14, 1975. A man by the name of Joe Hoffman was credited with pulling two children, ages 6 and 2, from the smoke filled house. He then used a garden hose to contain the fire until Company 2 arrived. The cause of the fire was faulty electrical wir- ing. Later that same morning, fire roared through a two story wood frame apartment house on the corner of Aca- cia and South Olive Avenue at 10:15 a.m. "By the time we got there it was really going hot," commented Chief Kennedy. Master streams were used to fight the wind- whipped inferno at the Casablanca Efficiency Apart-

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