WPBFD History

described what he saw by stating, "The City looked much as if a giant hand had taken a spoon, and stirred." On September 20, just four days after the hurricane, the coun- cil passed a "Notice to Property Owners" which read: As a result of the hurricane of September 16, 1928, there are a great many buildings in the City of West Palm Beach which have been partially or completely wrecked. In a great many instances lots are strewn with rubbish and wreckage which constitute serious fire hazards and a menace to public health and safety. Resi- dents are warned that if they do not take imme- diate action to clear their property and remove these hazardous conditions, the city will do so at the owner's expense. A second notice warned: All property owners are notified and warned that the building regulations and re- quirements of the city of West Palm Beach have not been suspended but are still in force. Be- cause of the grave emergency now existing and the great need for shelter, it has not been deemed wise to insist upon building permits for necessary repairs. All structures or repairs now in process of construction, however, will be re-

this situation during the night when people were not allowed on the streets, a patrol system was organized by members of the department. The town was laid out in districts and each member was assigned to a district for patrol, looking out for fires that might start and cautioning those who were using fire for cooking and light. Gasoline for operating the automobiles used in patrolling was furnished by the department. The members of the department and a few citi- zens who volunteered their services on several occasions, furnished their own automobiles for this work. The average mileage on these patrols amounted to about 48 miles per period of patrol for each man. The members of the department were very loyal during these trying times and while there was only one fire, it was promptly discovered, the alarm relayed to the fire department and the fire put out promptly with a very small loss. The patrol was continued until the middle of October and during this time was gradually de- creased as to the number of men patrolling, due to the gradual replacement of telephone service. Clean-up took weeks with the city issuing measures as hazards increased due to piles of rubble lying every- where. Don Morris, a reporter who covered the damage,

Trucks loaded with coffins brought the dead from Belle Glade to be buried in West Palm Beach. 16