WPBFD History

The patient is protected from chills and shock by blankets. Artificial Respiration may be con- tinued for hours. Six houses were destroyed by fire December 22, 1926. This fire began in a two story residence on the cor- ner of 9th Street and Tamarind Avenue owned by Lottie McIntosh. Fire loss was $10,200. In a little more than a year, some thirty-one houses had been destroyed by fire in a two block area of the city in the vicinity of 9th Street and Tamarind Avenue. Three days later on Christmas Eve fire once again destroyed the Lake Park Hotel on the corner of 1st Street and Narcissus Avenue. The three story brick veneer building suffered $30,000 in damages. A fire in this same hotel in 1902 had been a deciding factor in the formation of the West Palm Beach Fire Department. Chief Sadler was involved in his second auto acci- dent on the way to a false alarm December 31, 1926. He and W. H. Lingenfelter, his administrative officer, were responding in a new Hupmobile when they were struck by another vehicle at the intersection of 8th Street and Poin- settia. Both were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment. Lingenfelter suffered a fractured skull and Chief Sadler had a fractured jaw bone, lacerations, and bruises. Sadler was confined to the hospital for nine days after surgery on his jaw. It would be another month be- fore the chief returned to his duties. The driver of the other car, Perry McCampbell, was not seriously injured and would become the mayor of West Palm Beach in 1953. Training for the firemen was conducted by Ray Larra- bee. It consisted of climbing the ladder truck, connecting to hydrants, and crawling in smoke with a wet handker- chief to cover the face. Larrabee also gave examinations for drivers to see that they could handle the equipment. There were no written guidelines or ground rules. 1927 It was not easy to steal the headlines from Will Rogers, one of the most popular funny men in America, but the West Palm Beach Fire Department did just that in the February 11, 1927, edition of the Palm Beach Post . Rogers had given a performance in Palm Beach the night before, but a fire at the West Palm Beach City Garage took top billing in the morning paper. The fire was caused by a plumber's gasoline blow torch exploding at 12:50 p.m. February 10. Fire raced through the one story wood structure, fed by gasoline, oil, and paint. Two engines from Central Station and one from South Borough responded to fight the flames. Fire- men removed a number of burning vehicles from the building despite the constant danger of an explosion from

given dual roles as the community grew. Chief Sadler held responsibilities of both fire chief and building in- spector in the 1926 revision of the city charter. The building department had been established in 1910 under the department of streets and public improvements and Sadler had worked closely with the previous building in- spector. No special qualifications were prescribed for those who held the position. Sadler's new duties included supervision of the construction and reconstruction of all buildings in the city in addition to the enforcement of all codes. A category 4 hurricane roared into Miami Septem- ber 18, 1926, causing widespread destruction northward into Hollywood. In the aftermath there were piles of de- bris from wood structures that had been destroyed along the heavily built-up Dixie Highway (now U.S. 1). Prop- erty owners began to set fire to the remains of their build- ings to clear the mess or collect on fire insurance. Elec- tricity had been knocked-out and water pumps that sup- plied the water mains were inoperable. Fires and lack of water created a dangerous situation for the buildings that had survived the storm. West Palm Beach and other South Florida cities sent pumpers to draft water and pump it into the mains for fire protection. These operations were conducted around the clock until electricity was re- stored to the water plants. At 2:25 a.m. on October 5, 1926, a fire at 412-19th Street spread to nine other buildings before being con- trolled. The two story wood frame building where the fire originated was owned by Mrs. C. Osborne and Mack Pryor. The loss was $23,300. Prior to this time first aid calls had not been docu- mented in the official records. The primary function of the department had been fire extinguishment, but units were frequently called out to handle other emergencies as well. Beginning in 1926 the records of responses to "lung motor calls" first appeared. On October 25 of that year Robert Cox, age nine, fell into the stub canal at the Mu- nicipal Garage and was revived using the Schaeffer Method. In the early 1900s there were two methods of resusci- tation taught. The Silvester method was used for patients in bed, and the more common Schaefer method was used in the field when the patient was on a hard surface. By today's standards both methods seem dubious. The Schaefer method, mentioned many times in this narrative, was also known as the "prone pressure method." Resuscitation was carried out as follows:

The operator sits astride the patient's legs and rhythmically compresses the lower ribs, about twelve times a minute. The patient's face, rest- ing on the arm, is turned toward the side, where the operator may closely observe the breathing.

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