WPBFD History

highest in history, was necessary to raise revenues for basic operations. Property valuations had decreased from $98,365,000 in 1928 to only $19,000,000 in 1934. The municipal debt stood at an ominous $18,500,000. Fires losses for 1933-34 dropped to $22,326.89. 1935 Alarms were dispatched over a direct telephone line to each fire station in the early 1930s. The direct line had a special ring that alerted the firemen. Information about the emergency would be given verbally over the tele- phone. Once a unit was responding there was no way to contact it until the officer found a telephone to call Cen- tral Station. All companies had to stay in the station when not on a call in order to receive an alarm. A fire- man was assigned to answer the telephone at night, sleep- ing on a mattress thrown atop the Captain's desk. Sometime during the 1930s the men of the depart- ment took the initiative to improve communications. There was no money available in the fire department budget, so the firemen installed their personal ham radio equipment in Central Station. Instrumental in this work

The annual report was submitted to the city man- ager on October 13, 1932. The department finally slowed down after a decade of major fires that resulted in large fire losses for the city. The report showed that only 282 alarms had been answered. Of those 262 were fires, 3 were Lungmotor, 5 were special calls, and 12 were false alarms. The total fire loss for the year was $51,428.21, some $35,000 lower than the previous year. There were no fire deaths or serious burns reported. For the first time in five years, Sadler did not ask for his new Central Fire Station and fire alarm system. He knew the city was not able to finance such undertakings and he had made his requests properly known. 1933 An article in the August 6, 1933, Palm Beach Post reported that Fire Chief A. P. Sadler was busy with plans to take a fire truck to Miami and race it with the Magic City's in a big three day celebration. Many local rooters were expected at the 9:00 a.m. race. Training during the 1930s was limited in scope. Exercises were usually conducted by Assistant Chief Ray

were James I. Cook, Roy Tanner, Charles Caesar, and Wally Brouillette. Portable radios were kept on en- gines at Central Station and South Borough, but none was available for North Borough Station. These radios allowed the first direct commu- nication to units and personnel on the fire scene. The system re- duced response times when units were on the road and provided a means of correcting er- roneous dispatch infor-

Larrabee. Charles Cae- sar remembered, ". . . they'd take those big ladder trucks out and operate them and we had to climb up. You got to where you could almost run up it, you know. You'd get the hang of it. It was good training. Then other training was rolling out hose. . . . you get off at a certain place . . . close to a hy- drant and you hook up the suction hose . . . and they'd time it. You got to do it now! Not yes- terday, but now!"

Chief Sadler and his new 1935 Studebaker Sedan.

mation.

Caesar also recalled a smoke drill. "The other training was what to do if you were in a place with a lot of smoke. Get down and crawl low and put that wet handkerchief on your face. Well, that used to be almost a law, . . . but they found that wasn't so good." The population of West Palm Beach was 3,500. Fire losses for the fiscal year were $50,767.58. 1934 West Palm Beach was feeling the effects of the de- pression at its worst by 1934. A 55 mill tax levy, the

Uniforms during the 1930s consisted of a blue coat, white shirt, black bow tie, and black shoes. Each man had to provide his own, purchased at one of the down- town stores. Chief Sadler liked to see the men present- able, so he insisted their clothes be clean and pressed. R. W. Geyer of Chicago was hired by the city to conduct a financial review. Under the section dealing with operation costs, the salaries of various positions were compared with similar positions in other cities. Chief Sadler's annual salary had been $3,420 in 1928 and was reduced to $3,000 in 1932. Maximum fireman's salary

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