WPBFD History

made available at fire sta- tions. The stickers were to be placed on the front door of homes, so that firefighters would imme- diately recognize that someone may need spe- cial help to escape in case of emergency. On May 10, 1965, Chief

Merida's Firemen Corps. The solemn ceremony took place at the fire headquarters in Merida, Mexico. By the mid-1960s the city was looking to the west for future expan- sion. The Palm Beach Mall and the Municipal Auditorium were on the drawing boards and the Municipal Sports Stadium had already been built in the former swamplands. Palm Beach Lakes Boule- vard was to be a major east/west artery to con-

Sloan brought in A. D. Starratt from the Florida State Fire College to up- grade supervisory prac- tices of company officers. The two week class was held in the classroom at #4 Station. Mr. Starratt was formerly the chief of training with the Jacksonville Fire Department. The fire department became active in a civic cause during the summer of 1965. The Dreher Park Zoo was trying to purchase a four-year-old elephant to add to their collection of animals. "Toppie," as the young pachyderm was named, could be obtained with 1,000 books of trad- ing stamps. These stamps were earned by making pur- chases at various stores, gas stations, and groceries. The West Palm Beach Firemen's Benevolent Association sponsored a "draw the elephant" contest for children aged five through nine. All entries had to include 100 trading stamps. In June of 1965, Florida Governor Haydon Burns

Santa on Pumper 300

nect the downtown with a proposed Interstate 95 inter- change. The city was in the process of building the 12th Street overpass to handle the anticipated traffic and pro- vide better response time for the fire department into the new western section. Plans were also in the works for improving Flagler Drive by widening it to a four-lane di- vided roadway. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the department began to convert breathing apparatus from the canister type to self contained breathing equipment. By 1964 the department had twenty-five canister masks, 4 one-hour Chemox masks, and 9 half-hour air demand masks. The major complaints concerning the old canister masks were fogging of the lens and restrictive breathing. The department had, for many

signed a bill that changed the West Palm Beach Firemen's Pension and Relief Fund. Changes included omit- ting the word "relief" in the pension name, increasing the millage which funded the program to the level of police and general employees, and basing benefits on the pay at time of retirement, rather than the pay of fire- fighter rank. Deputy Chief Lawrence E. Hoffman, pension representative, was present for the official signing in Tallahassee. A tragedy was averted, primarily by luck, on Thursday, June 17, 1965. Deputy Chief Hoffman was driving his fire department car on the west side of town about 11:00 a.m. when he heard a loud explosion and then two smaller explosions. The alarm sounded moments later. First arriving units at 1121-21st Street found little

years, taken an active role in seeing that Santa was properly presented to the youngsters of the city. Santa Claus arrived in West Palm Beach and was given the grand tour of the city on a fire truck. The route wound through the city from one end to the other. For two hours Santa waved from atop the fire engine to the many children who lined the streets. 1965 A program to identify homes where invalids resided began in April of 1965. Stickers bearing a Maltese cross with the letter "I" in the middle were distributed during the Home Fire Safety Program and were also

Toppie 3