WPBFD History

tion, was owned by the city and currently vacant. Reese got the okay to use the building as a maintenance facility, but funding for improvements was bare bones. Chief Lewis had to beg and borrow everything from air conditioners to shelving so the building could be put to use. During the late 1980s many of the younger division heads were exposed to educational opportunities that made them real- ize that the West Palm Beach Fire Department was years be- hind in many operational areas. One of the sorest points was Incident Command. The department still operated under fire- ground guidelines that had been instituted back in the 1940s with little change. While most fire departments used plain lan- guage radio communications, the decades old codes and signals were still in effect at West Palm. Some examples are listed below: ARRIVAL CODES Code 1 - the emergency can be handled by the first arriving unit. Code 2 - first arriving unit may need help. Code 3 - additional help required, state what is needed. Code 4 - emergency cannot be located. Code 5 - unit back in service. These "Codes" were considered sacred by the traditional- ists and often it was not how well the firemen had fought the fire, but the appropriateness of the arrival code that drew the most attention. Some company officers refused to give a Code 3 for fear of drawing criticism from the chief or assistant chief and Code 2s were seldom used for the same reason. It was common for company officers to deride other officers for giv- ing a higher code than a situation eventually warranted. Some officers avoided the problem by giving a "Code 1 for now" and letting the assistant chief arrive to upgrade the alarm. There were few officers who gave safe-sided arrival codes in the 1960s and 1970s. Assistant Chief Ronald Johnson, Chief of Training and Support Donald Widing, and Chief of EMS Robert Boike

ing to persuade him, and finally he relented with deep concerns that the sky would fall or something worse. It was a wonder that the department wasn't still using the hand drawn hose cart. Work began in earnest once Reese gave the tentative okay. A new Tactical SOP and a new General SOP were drafted for his approval. This was another frustrating experi- ence for the three division heads as Reese picked over each line. "What if . . ." would begin each of Reese's concerns about the new procedures. Delay seemed to be his main weapon against the changes, but plain language radio communi- cations and the incident command system went into effect on April 1, 1989. Lieutenant Kevin "Ray" Carter had the honor of giving the last Code 2 arrival on March 22, 1989, at a house fire on Walton Boulevard. It got everyone's attention, as Code 2s al- ways had, but the fire turned out to be a small dog house in the back yard - far from a working fire. To make matters worse, the training division arrived on the scene with the video camera to record the action. Carter received constant harassment in the form of "arfing" telephone calls, questions about Fido com- mand, and a pseudo-newspaper article about "The Last Code 2." The month of April would prove to be one of the worst for firefighters in the Uptown/Downtown project. At least the new I.C.S. system got a workout in the first month of operation. On Wednesday night, April 26, the First Platoon had every unit busy at structure fires except one rescue. A commercial build- ing in the north end of town, the College of the Palm Beaches, and four vacant houses were all burning at the same time. The Fire Prevention Bureau arrested a suspected arsonist in the area and Fire Marshall Jerry Catoe told reporters, "Someone is test- ing our patience . . . ." More than 60 working fires had oc- curred in the Uptown/Downtown project in the preceding twelve months. Firefighter Phil Webb was married to Lisa Lawson on May 5, 1989. The reception was held at the Poinciana Club on the lakefront in Palm Beach while Sunfest, a West Palm Beach street festival, was taking place across the lake. About twenty wedding guests were on a balcony over the water watching the Sunfest fireworks

wanted to bring the Incident Command System to West Palm Beach, but Chief Reese wouldn't hear of it. His traditional thinking just couldn't allow the first arriving unit to be in charge because it might be an inspector, mechanic, or paramedic. No matter that the first person on the scene might have the best view of the fire, only company officers could handle such responsibility accord- ing to Reese. Untold hours were spent try-

when the balcony sud- denly gave way, top- pling twelve people into the murky waters of Lake Worth. A chain link fence that enclosed the balcony fell over some of the people temporarily trapping them under water. There were no major injuries, proba- bly because of the quick thinking of sev- eral West Palm Beach Firefighters who pulled people to safety. Firefighters were always on the job.

Fire on second floor above Roxy’s Bar, the end of a landmark. 6