WPBFD History

Some 18 fire trucks from eight area de- partments made a vain attempt to douse the flames, but little was saved. Newspa- per reports compared the disaster to a ma- jor fire on Clematis Street that might de- stroy a hundred busi- nesses. Suspicions were aroused when it was noted that this was the third farmers' market in the state to burn in a week. New Fire Depart- ment Rules and Regulations were

The report went on to recommend that the lakefront pumping station be abandoned and a new pumping station con- structed at the water plant. A 3,000 gallon per minute gasoline engine driven pump and a 3,000 gallon per minute motor driven pump would be installed in the new facility. Water from existing wells would be supplied to the 450,000 gallon standpipe at First

Home Fire Safety Inspection began in 1959. Photo with P-39 in 1971. L to R: John Couden, Don Hubbard, Capt. Jim Calvitt, Ronald Johnson

distributed on December 1, 1958. Chief Witherspoon had improved on the old rules that had been in effect since Sadler's reign in the 1940s. One of the additions was the specifics on dress and uniforms that would set the tone for the next thirty years. The rules dictated that caps or hats must be worn when not under cover. By the late 1960s the hat rule seemed to become more important than put- ting out fires. There were three different uniforms; summer dress whites, winter dress whites, and work. A tie had to be worn with any long sleeve shirt, but this pertained primar- ily to staff personnel. Firefighters for the next three dec- ades would wonder why there was a need to wear white dress shirts to dirty, sooty fires. Uniforms were often changed three, four, or even five times each duty day be- cause the rules stated that when not engaged in work de- tails, the dress uniform had to be worn, and of course the officers took this literally. A typical day would involve wearing the work uniform in the morning as the daily work was completed. Everyone had to be in dress uni- form for lunch hour. Afternoon drill would then require the work uniform, and then back into the dress uniform for survey. Back at the station everyone changed into work clothes for the afternoon clean-up. Dinner of course was formal again. A fire or two during the day made ad- ditional changes necessary when uniforms became soiled. The rule concerning hose records was no big deal at the time, but in future years, as the number of fires and companies increased, would become a real headache for officers. Every piece of hose had to be kept track of in the hose record file at Central Station. Each female cou- pling was stamped with a number designating the year it was purchased and a consecutive number beginning with "1", such as "58-1, 58-2," etc. Whenever a length of hose

Street and Sapodilla Avenue by these pumps. The stand- pipe would be connected to the high pressure main system by a 14-inch main to Rosemary Avenue. The project cost estimate was $88,550. The study also found the high pressure mains in a deteriorated condition. Scale and bacterial growth had formed because of the polluted salt water from Lake Worth that had been pumped through it over the years. If a valve failed, contaminated water could seep into the potable water system which could result in a serious health problem. A leak had occurred in the early 1920s when a downtown cafe complained of salt in the water, but no health problems were documented. Florida Power & Light retired their steam plant on September 30, 1958. They no longer needed to pump water from the high pressure fire system to the plant. FP&L requested the agreement of August 26, 1931, be cancelled. The city complied, and as of December 31, 1958, the agreement was revoked. West Palm Beach firefighters responded to one of the most spectacular fires in Palm Beach County history on Sunday morning, August 24, 1958. The huge Farmers' Market on Congress Avenue was ablaze and Military Trail Volunteer Fire Department needed all the help they could muster. The 1200-foot long building was fully in- volved, sending flames 300 feet into the air. Dense clouds of acrid brownish-black smoke mushroomed skyward. A critical water supply problem forced the volun- teers to ferry water to the scene from distant hydrants. West Palm units drafted from a nearby canal to supply master streams which seemed to have little effect. Explo- sions were heard as boxes of ammunition, cans of paint, and bottled gas were consumed. The 92 degree weather and thousands of bystanders made matters even worse.

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