WPBFD History

usual, smoking was the number one cause of fires. For the third year in a row, no fire deaths were reported. The following injuries to department personnel were reported: H. C. Muller, 10-27-30 Infected foot J. K. Black,1-30-31 Nail in foot D. S. Polk, 1-30-31 Broken rib H. B. Sparr, 3-3-31 Injured foot W. F. Brouillette, 4-6-31 Sprained back J. K. Black, 9-5-31 Bruised chest L. A. Tanner, 9-21-31 Toe nail off T. W. Treadwell, 9-28-31 Bruised leg An old "Fire Log" had two interesting entries for late 1931. On November 24, there was a "plane crash" that resulted in a fatality. The other, on December 12, involved a train wreck in a location that was not easily accessible by vehicles. The log says, "P3 loaded on flat car and went to scene of wreck where cars were burning." The Palm Beach Post of November 25, 1931, pro- vides more details of the plane crash. The Curtis Seagull seaplane had recently been rebuilt and was on a test flight over Lake Worth. According to eye witnesses, it sud- denly went into a tailspin and crashed into the water at 19th Street off Bethesda Park. Boaters quickly rescued the four occupants, but one passenger, Robert Odom of Kel- sey City, died at the hospital three hours later. The plane had been involved in four previous accidents and confis- cated by federal agents for "liquor running" before being purchased for $105 by Bradley Gifford. Information concerning the train wreck was found in the Palm Beach Times of Saturday, December 12, 1931. A Seaboard passenger train, en-route from West Palm Beach to New York, crashed into a freight train near Scott, some twenty miles northwest of West Palm Beach. The passenger train was routed onto the siding where the freight was parked by a faulty switch. Two oil tank cars and a petroleum car caught fire and five cars were lost before the fire was controlled. The engineer and fireman on the Seaboard locomotive were killed in the crash. At least seven passengers received minor injuries. The West Palm Beach fire engine was being loaded onto a freight car when word arrived that the fire had been controlled. 1932 Two fires of "malicious incendiarism" in August of 1932 had the town buzzing with rumors of a special in- vestigator from the National Board of Fire Underwriters being called into West Palm Beach. Chief Sadler denied the rumors saying that the fires were being handled by local authorities. The two suspicious fires occurred on the mornings of August 4 and 5, at 824-32nd Street and 431-13th Street.

Thousands of spectators gathered to watch a spec- tacular blaze at the Fagg Mill Works that lit-up the night sky on Thursday, January 29, 1931. By the time firemen arrived at 10:30 p.m. all they could do was protect nearby buildings. Witnesses said the fire started in the boiler of an adjacent laundry and then raced across the lumber yard on 14th Street. Residents in the area were busy removing personal possessions from their homes fearing that the fire would spread. Two occupants of an apartment located at the rear of the lumber yard received burns as they nar- rowly escaped with their lives. Minutes later their garage apartment was totally consumed. More than two hours passed before the fire was brought under control. Total losses, which included 25 to 30 carloads of finished lum- ber, were listed at $85,000. There are many references to Assistant Chief J. R. Larrabee on the scene of alarms. On October 29, 1930, and again on May 24, 1931, Larrabee responded to bro- ken ammonia lines on refrigeration equipment. Both times he put on a gas mask and shut off the lines. On August 26, 1931, an agreement was entered into between the City of West Palm Beach and Florida Power & Light. The power company would use the city's high pressure fire system to supply water to their steam plant at the Florida East Coast Railroad and Datura Street. Florida Power & Light would pay for operators at the pumps, maintain the pumps, provide free electricity for the pumps, and pay the city $75 per month. The agreement also stated that the fire department would have prece- dence in use of the pumping system at all times. This agreement would remain in effect until December 31, 1958, when the steam plant was retired. The fire department shift changed from the twelve hour rotating schedule to an eleven hour day shift and a thirteen hour night shift. Firemen still earned no vacation. Men had to exchange time with one another in order to leave for any period of time. This meant that the man who covered for another's time off had to virtually live at the station for long periods. There was no pension plan to provide retirement benefits for personnel. Those working during these hard times considered themselves lucky just to have a steady job and the best way to ensure that they kept this precious security was not to cross Chief Sadler. New construction standards implemented by the city began to pay off in the 1930's from the fire safety aspect. The large scale conflagrations of previous years dimin- ished, while the number of alarms steadily increased. The per capita fire loss for the city continued to decline as the population grew. The 1930-31 annual report showed the highest fire loss in three years. Buildings and contents lost totaled $86,563.42 for the fiscal year. The Fagg Mill and Lumber Company fire accounted for $62,058.55 of the losses. There were 345 alarms of which 316 were fires. As

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