NEAFC 31st Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF I~IRE CHIEFS
existing in the homes and in places of business. The radio was widely used throughout
the year, and during Fire Prevention Week we were very pleased to have the members
of our City Council, Board of Trade, and Insurance Association give fire-prevention
talks.
Theatres
Our theatres were very co-operative in allowing us to display domestic appliances
in their main foyers, showing how fires start, through carelessness, and each day they
showed a film on fire prevention.
Fire Prevention Banners
Fire-prevention banners were flown in different sections of our city, and all cityowned
trucks .carried signs on the side of the body bearing a fire-prevention message.
. Then, along the main streets of our city, the merchants permitted the use of large
stencils on their windows, which toldi the populace that fires are costly and to exercise
prevention against fire. Many of these signs are still intact and the merchants have no
desire to remove them.
Fire Prevention Stamp Stickers
Prior to and through Fire Prevention Week, fire-prevention stickers were used on
all envelop.es,sent out by our city offices, service clubs, and many other organizations.
Inspection of Government Buildings
While our Government Buildings are inspected thro.ughout the year :by members
of the R. C. M. P., our Department is responsible for their protection from fire. During
Fire Prevention Week fire drills were held with demonstrations, and talks were given
by our members.
Inspecting by Radio
Maximum efficiency in the handling of fire-,fighting equipment requires a detailed
knowledge of the .building in which a fire is being fought. Knowledge of its hazards,
its protection equipment, its structural features affecting the spread of fire, entry, and
its exits for the safety of firemen, as well as for the efficient handling of a fire to eliminate
unnecessary loss of life and property.
In the past, it was not advisable to remove your apparatus, far from a fire station or
have many of the members doing fire inspection work in their districts, owing to being
out of commission, for a call, ,but recently, with the use of radio-equipped apparatus,
all the personnel and apparatus in a fire station can be taken to any location in their district,
giving the members the opportunity of seeing conditions as they exist.
Each day, one of the station crews with apparatus, along with a District Chief,
inspects by radio in the business district, and, with the apparatus or~ the street carrying
fire-prevention, banners, much interest was shown bY our citizens in this type of inspection,
and it was an advantage to our me:ml~rS t6 be able to s~ and discuss conditions
in their district as a body, rather than eo~t aroun~t knd ~v’~"i-t for a call.
As you can well imagine, in. order to ca-rry-.out such an extensive program, it takes
the interest andi assistance of every member 0f the department, and while our fireprevention
bureau is operating throughout the year, committees must be appointed
prior to the program to act under their direc.tion, and many of these committee mem-
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