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1929
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1929 - Fire Prevention Week - Central Station
New Squad One - replaced the Webb Pumper.
September 3, 1929 - Fairmount Hall fire - $122,000 loss.
1929 - Drill Team - Clarence Holder, Earl Saunders, John Shoff, Bert Furnas, Charles Messer.
1929 - Ahrens Fox pumpers in front of Central Station.
| The New Year of 1929 arrived and with it, headlines "Fire Department Faces Probe!" An investigation into reports of alleged wrangling between the Police and Fire Departments which it was charged, resulted in the destruction of a Wichita home. According to City Commissioner Charles S. Lawrence, it was because the Fire Department spent many minutes in a dispute with the Police Department over the proper procedure of turning in an alarm. In his excitement, the home owner had called the Police Department instead of the Fire Department after he discovered the blaze. The Police Department sergeant called the Fire Department on their private line to report the fire, he was told to call it over the right phone. He didn't and after waiting a few minutes and not hearing the fire trucks leave, he called again over the private line and again the reply was "call it in over the right phone!" Finally, a citizen who lived nearby did call it in over the right phone and the Fire Department responded in time to save the foundation. The true story as it turned out was, that all of the machines from Central Station were already on a fire at 104 North Mosley when the alarm came in. Engine No. 6 had filled in at Central Station and the dispatcher had sent the machine to the fire in question within one minute after receiving the first phone call from the Police Department. As it turned out, very little damage was done by the fire, and a blistering reply to the charges was made by Chief McCall. According to the old timers, the only one that could chew on his boys was the "old man" himself. A couple of weeks later the Chief had cooled down, and told the citizens how the alarm system worked, and how to use it properly. All was well with the world and the Fire Department.
In February at the Wichita Saddle and Bridle Club there was a $150,000 fire where thirty-five horses and one man died. This club was located two miles east of the city limits on Central. Big fires always elicit some immediate response and this was no exception, it brought the Fire Prevention Committee to their feet. This group unanimously endorsed the proposed bond issue for the new stations previously asked for.
A week later, the McKenzie Carriage Works burned at First and Water with a loss of $250,000 due to a gas explosion. That fire did the trick, the entire Chamber of Commerce joined the Fire Prevention Committee, and officially lent its active support to the task of bringing about a favorable vote on the bond issue of $200,000 for construction of the proposed stations. It had taken some 10-15 years of agitation, but the city fathers finally gave in and voted in favor of the issue.
Annually, the pilgrimage of petitions for salary increases was made, and this year was no exception. A new state law would make it mandatory for Firemen and Policemen to receive a minimum of $150 per month when the city population reached 110,000 citizens, and it was expected to be that in Wichita by 1930. The same law would also result in parity for the two departments. At this time, the Fire Department started a man at $110 per month, $140 after four years, the Police Department, $140 the first year, Police Chief, $4800 per year and the Fire Chief, $3600 per year. A miracle happened, both the Fire and Police received a $10.00 per month raise effective the first of the year 1930.
Two weeks before Fire Prevention Week, another big fire occurred, this time at Fairmount University with a $121,936 loss. Following the fire was the usual interest and concern. Expert fire inspectors of the Wichita Fire Department in cooperation with the Board of Education did a school survey for fire safety. War on the "Red Menace" was the slogan for Fire Prevention Week. Building inspections, parades, display windows, proclamations, posters on fire hydrants, firemen instructing citizens, all of which was to put a stop to fire in Wichita. These programs were taken very seriously by those involved. In fact, the activities became too exacting for one committee to handle, so they made a new committee, the Public Safety Committee. They were to concentrate on efforts to promote the needs of the Wichita Fire Department in terms of manpower, new equipment, water mains, and other essentials. The first reward was a new Ahren Fox, 1,000 GPM Open-Cab Pumper to replace the old Webb, the first motorized fire apparatus purchased in 1911. The old Webb was put into reserve in the rear of Central Station. It had done its part in bringing the Fire Department through some of the most difficult years, those years called the roaring twenties.
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Related to 09 - H.H. McCall (The Old Man) |
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