WPBFD History

AFTERWORD The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. Abraham Lincoln

The West Palm Beach Fire Department will survive and dramatic changes will take place, of that we can all be sure. These changes may not please everyone, but when the alarm sounds, there should be only one concern; protecting the lives and property of those who pay our salaries. Firefighting is one of the few professions with rewards of such a personal nature and even though the job is one of the most hazardous in the world, firefighters are blessed with immeasurable times of self-satisfaction. That will never change. Sometime in the future the alarm will sound and firefighters will dash for the trucks, their adrenaline pumping. A distant voice might be heard if one listens closely before the diesel engines roar into action. "Let's go get it laddies. Forget all that other nonsense, we'll take care of that later. Right now we have a job to do." Looking back toward the voice, a new-recruit might catch a glimpse of a gray- haired man neatly attired in an old fire department uniform with gold badge as he cranks his Hudson Super-Six. May Chief Sadler's spirit always be with us. Ronald E. Johnson

Chief Sadler and some of his men in 1922.

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