WPBFD History

ers on how to escape from their apartments in case of fire and learned some basic emergency first aid. The Red Cross supplied refreshments as well as manning a booth demonstrating water safety. An arson fire severely damaged a home that had sur- vived the hurricane of 1928 on the morning of July 8, 1992. The fire, at 703 Fern Street, was controlled by fire- fighters in fifteen minutes, but one apartment suffered heavy fire damage and there was smoke damage through- out the entire building. A flammable liquid had been poured in a front apartment to start the fire. On July 9 Theodore Vatcher, a tenant in the building, was charged with first-degree arson. Later that same afternoon rescue units were dis- patched to a serious automobile accident on I-95 just north of 45th Street. The wreck involved three vehicles, two of which hit head-on. Three people were killed in- stantly and a fourth died as rescuers vainly tried to free her from the wreckage. On August 25 units responded to the Mount Vernon Motor Lodge at 310 Belvedere Road. The fire was quickly controlled, but a young man who occupied the small motel room died. The fire had been caused by care- less smoking. Four days later on August 29, fire units responded to a fire at 4802 North Dixie Highway. Arriving shortly after 5:00 p.m., neighbors advised that there were occu- pants in a first floor apartment where the fire was located. Engine 31 and Rescue 31 made a desperate attempt to save 63-year-old Mitchell Rigel, but he had succumbed to the intense heat of the fire. Cause of this fire was also attributed to careless smoking. The department hired an injury prevention specialist on September 28, 1992. Pam Meyer's job would include educating the public on the proper use of the medical ser- vices in an attempt to reduce the number of inappropriate EMS calls. This would be accomplished by public educa- tion programs and mailings to those who have requested help unnecessarily. Another program would teach 4th and 5th grade students Basic Aid Training for rescue breathing, choking, poisoning, water safety, and care of wounds. Home safety was taught with the aid of a new Safety House trailer purchased in January of 1993. On October 11, 1992, the West Palm Beach Fire Department in conjunction with the Palm Beach County Fire Chiefs' Association hosted the Fallen Firefighter Me- morial Service. Departments from Palm Beach and Mar- tin County provided various apparatus for the solemn pro- cession from Providencia Park to the Chapel by the Lake. After the 1:00 p.m. memorial service at the chapel, re- freshments were served at Central Fire Station. Captain Rick O'Brien was recognized by the Palm Beach County Fire Chiefs' Association for his work in organizing the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service. Rec-

27. The third victim was in stable condition but was still having trouble walking and talking. The West Palm Beach Extrication Team competed in the 1992 Southeast Regional Extrication contest. The team of Bill Serey, Jim Harmon, Cletus Pirtle, Butch Barndt, Mike Wennergren, and Rhett Carlo placed third overall and second in the limited division. The West Palm group later took part in the international competition which included teams from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Bill Serey commented on their show- ing by saying, "We proved we belong with the 'big boys.' We did not bring home a trophy but we are soon going to be knocking on the door." In April the department again gave away smoke de- tectors, this time distributing about forty in the Aker's Away Mobile Home Park on 45th Street. Engine 61 pulled into the park and people flocked around to receive their free detectors. Firefighters mounted detectors for those who were unable to install one themselves. The ef- fort was publicized to remind everyone to change the bat- teries in their detectors as the clocks were turned ahead an hour for Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Statistics said that even though three out of four American families have smoke detectors, somewhere between one-third to one- half of them were not properly maintained. Chances were twice as good that people would survive a fire in homes with working detectors. The American Legion, Palm Beach Post 12 honored Driver/Engineer Walter Barndt on May 5, 1992. Fire Chief Robert Rehr presented a plaque in recognition of Barndt's outstanding work with the department extrication team, his videos for training and public education, and his work as chairperson for the Centennial Committee. In May of 1992 the firefighters' pension suit against the city was finally settled. Instrumental in working out the agreement were Alton Ashby, Chairman of the Fire- fighters' Pension Fund, and Mayor Nancy Graham. The settlement included payments totaling $1,500,000 for Chapter 175 funds collected by the city from 1963 to 1987. The agreement allowed a lump sum payoff for 104 retired firefighters and dependents. The 175 funds held- up by the legal question for the years 1988 through 1991 were also released for distribution. Retirees would share in future excessive earnings of the pension fund over 9%. The distributions helped many retirees who had seen their precious pension eroded over the years by the escalating cost of living. A Fire Safety and Injury Prevention Fair was held in West Palm Beach on June 6, 1992. The fire depart- ment sponsored event was attended by about 150 resi- dents of Lakeview Towers. Children were taught how to stop, drop, and roll in case their clothes caught fire. They rolled on the ground trying to break a balloon that had been tied around their waist. The adults were given point-

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