WPBFD History

South Borough Fire Stations were planned in 1922 to re- duce response times to the new areas. North Borough, designated Fire Station Number 1, was located on the cor- ner of 35th Street and Poinsettia. South Borough, desig- nated Fire Station Number 2, was located at Kenilworth and Poinsettia. The downtown fire station retained the title Central Fire Station and was sometimes referred to as "Centralborough". The addition of these two stations marked an end of the volunteer days. Personnel were hired to man all three stations on a full time basis. A new two platoon system was initiated with firemen still working an eighty-four hour week. The shift was twelve hours on duty and twelve hours off duty, seven days a week. A crew would work the day schedule one week and then switch to the night schedule the next week. There was no vacation or other leave granted. In October of 1922 the West Palm Beach Fire Department was comprised of a chief, assis- tant chief, and fourteen men. With the new stations and on duty men around the clock, an improved system of alarm notification was nec- essary. Telephones were installed for relaying emergency information from Central Station to North Borough and South Borough Stations. There were no radios in the ap- paratus, so firemen had to find a telephone to call Central Station when out of the station. The city fathers had an unusual assignment for Chief Sadler's men in their meeting of October 24, 1922. Com- missioners authorized the city manager to have the fire department pump water from the school football field in preparation for a football game between Miami and West Palm Beach. 1923 E. H. Barto, contractor and builder, constructed the two new fire stations. An advertisement for the builder appeared in the Sunday, May 20, 1923, Palm Beach Post with a picture of the North Borough Fire Station promi- nently displayed. The new high pressure water station and city jail had also been recently completed by E. H. Barto. Ray Larrabee, who joined the department in 1913, was promoted to the newly created position of first assis- tant chief in 1923. He would retain this rank for the next 26 years before his promotion to chief. The early fire trucks had to be cranked by hand to get them started. This was hard even for the strongest firemen and sometimes injuries occurred when the crank would kick-back. Ray Larrabee, a self taught mechanic with considerable skills, installed Rolls Royce starters on some of the trucks to allow push button starting. W. H. Lingenfelter was hired on October 17, 1923, as a clerk to assist the chief in record keeping. He kept

passed on June 6, 1922, by a vote of 449 for and 297 against. All of Sadler's other recommendations were im- plemented by the council before the end of the year with the exception of the fire alarm system. In the commission meeting of July 18, 1922, ap- proval was obtained for the purchase of sites for two new fire stations. The South Borough site cost $1,695 and the North Borough site was $600. The low bid for installation of the high pressure sys- tem was submitted by I. C. Mishler in the amount of $15,700. It was accepted in the August 15, 1922, com- mission meeting and the city manager was authorized to execute the contract. The high pressure system was constructed and re- mained operational as originally designed for thirty-five years. The two pumps, which provided salt water from Lake Worth, were located in adjacent pump houses on a short pier at Datura Street and Flagler Drive. They sup- plied forty-five high pressure hydrants in the downtown mercantile district. In the early years of operation the high pressure system was credited with saving the district from large fires on several occasions. Later the system even provided income to the city by supplying water for cooling purposes to the Florida Power & Light plant located at Datura and the Florida East Coast Railroad. The power company was charged a fee for this service and firemen were paid extra when as- signed pumping duties. The water company continued to improve the distri- bution system, laying new mains along side of the high pressure mains. Valves connecting the two systems at strategic points allowed for additional supply to the high pressure system if needed. Check valves were installed to prevent salt water from the emergency system from con- taminating the potable water in the fresh water system. One morning after the new mains had been in- stalled, Mr. Keith Chinn, head of the water company and future city manager of West Palm Beach, stopped for cof- fee at a downtown restaurant. The cook ran up complain- ing that there was salt in everyone's coffee. Chinn imme- diately knew the cause, a malfunctioning valve in the downtown system. He quickly mobilized all available personnel until the culprit part was finally located and repaired. In 1922 fire inspections were instituted by the depart- ment. Every three months the entire business section was thoroughly inspected for fire risks, and any infringements of fire regulations were corrected. Residential sections of West Palm Beach were inspected twice each year. Sadler recognized that a good inspection program was an impor- tant factor in reducing fire loss. The city was now growing rapidly along the Lake Worth waterfront. No longer was the downtown district the only concern for fire protection. North Borough and

6