WPBFD History

tions of a police officer, and reckless driving by speeding. Taken to the police station he posted bond in the amount of $115. He failed to appear in court and Judge Joseph A. Peel, Jr.. issued a warrant for his arrest. An additional bond of $115 was set. The Club Ballerina had formerly

J. H. "Bill" Witherspoon, the First Assistant Chief since 1949, was made Interim Chief after Larrabee's re- tirement in 1952. On December 1 Witherspoon was for- merly appointed to the position of Fire Chief. Coming

from South Carolina in 1925, he had joined the department on September 25 of that same year. Taking leave during World War II, Witherspoon served in the Coast Guard in various firefighting positions. In the latter years of his career he was active in many fire service organizations in- cluding the Florida State Firemen's Association. Witherspoon was ap- pointed to the Board of Trustees of the Florida State Fire College by the governor. 1953 Four months after taking com- mand of the department, Chief Witherspoon responded in the early morning hours to a major fire only a few blocks from his home. The alarm came in at 4:10 a.m. on March 26, 1953. Company 3, the first arriv- ing unit, gave a Code 4 indicating that no fire could be seen at the Club

been known as the Dixie Inn, an ille- gal gambling establishment operated by Jim and Bill North that catered primarily to fashionable tourists. The operation had been raided in 1946 at the request of the Governor's office. The raid resulted in the first closing of a gambling casino in the county. On the morning of June 16, 1953, another business was ravaged by fire. The gas tank of a station wagon was being drained in the Stewart Pontiac repair shop, located at 1928 South Dixie Highway. Fumes were ignited by an unknown source. Al Kirt, an employee at the garage, bravely at- tempted to cover the can, but was unable to smother the fire. He re- ceived minor burns for his efforts. Other employees used every avail- able fire extinguisher in a futile at- tempt to stop the fire from spreading. Six fire units arrived shortly after

Watch Office 1952

9:00 a.m. with Assistant Chief J. I. Cook in charge. By that time the entire garage was an inferno fed by plenty of fuel such as oil, gasoline, and tires. Dense black smoke forced firefighters in the street to put on air masks. Gaso- line tanks exploded in the building as fire engulfed sev- eral other cars. The fire quickly found the old pine tim- bers supporting the roof. When the roof finally collapsed, large plumes of smoke billowed skyward. Bright orange flames danced fifty feet over the doomed shop facility. A mass of one thousand people pressed to view the spec- tacle and Police Chief Richard M. Allshire had to request all police units for crowd control. A touch of humor was added as workers moved a wooden statue of Indian Chief Pontiac from the show- room out into the middle of South Dixie Highway. The imposing figure, with arms raised, appeared to be direct- ing traffic that jammed the road. Several new cars in the showroom were also removed without damage. The business, owned by Earl and Douglas Stewart, suffered a fifty percent loss to the building with damages in excess of $100,000. Only eight vehicles were de- stroyed. Captain Francis Miller suffered a lacerated thumb from a shard of glass as he battled the fire. After being "stitched-up" at the hospital he returned to the fire scene to help in the overhaul.

Ballerina, 5700 Broadway. A few minutes later the com- pany officer advised that his units could handle the fire by giving a Code 1. Moments later the alarm was upgraded to a Code 2 and additional units were requested. Before long virtually all available companies were called in a futile effort to save the building. Six 2 1/2 inch pump lines and two 1 1/2 inch leader lines were used to quell the blaze by 7:00 a.m.. Robert Milkins hovered in the dense smoke above the inferno on the ladder of T-42 directing a stream of water into the vented roof. "I would rather have been somewhere else," he later commented. Two firemen were injured; Captain E. R. Powers suf- fered a fractured nose when hit by a brass nozzle, and As- sistant Chief H. E. Stewart received an eye injury. The Women's Auxiliary provided assistance by serving hot coffee and donuts to the weary firemen. Seventy-five per- cent of the structure was destroyed and the cause was never determined. Damage was estimated at $40,000. At the peak of the action, a local citizen ignored the fire lines by driving his car past the scene on Broadway. He was promptly arrested by West Palm Beach Police and charged with running through a fire line, obstructing fire- men in the line of duty, failure to pull over to the curb upon sounding of a fire alarm, failure to heed the direc-

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