科茨维尔部的消防设备和工作

科茨维尔部的消防设备和工作

With the arrival of the tractor drawn steamer of the Washington Fire Co. No. 1, from the Seagrave Co., Columbus, O., the Fire Department of the City of Coatesville, Pa., is completely motorized. Coatesville is a steel manufacturing city of approximately 20,000 inhabitants, located 40 miles west of Philadelphia and has a great many frame dwelling with shingle roofs, the streets are macadamized, the fire hydrants are plentiful and well spaced, the water system is unexcelled; there is a pressure of from 40 to 65 pounds on the low pressure hydrants and a pressure of from 85 to 125 pounds on the new high pressure hydrants; this high pressure system covers a very dangerous section of the city and also the high points. The new water works have been finished, the dam holding 300,000,000 gallons of water, being located about three miles above the city. The fire department consists of three companies, all purely volunteer and each company having a membership of approximately 350, with an active working force, elected each year, of 30 men. The Washington Fire Co. No. 1 has a Seagrave Combination hose and chemical car with two 35-gallon chemical tanks, mounted turret pipe with three-way attachments, and a carrying capacity of 1,200 feet of 2 1/2-inch hose; one Metropolitan 3rd class steamer drawn by a Seagrave tractor and an automobile ambulance which latter answers all alarms of fire. The Brandywine Fire Co. No. 2 has an American-La France city service ladder truck with 40-gallon chemical tank attached; on American-La France triple combination pump, chemical and hose car, 800 gallons of water per iminute capacity, one 40-gallon chemical tank and a carrying capacity of 1,000 feet of 2 1/2-inch hose. One motor propelled patrol which answers all fire calls. The West End Fire Co. No. 3 has a Rowe triple combination pump, chemical and hose car, 750 gallons of water per minute capacity, one 60-gallon chemical tank and a carrying capacity of 1,000 feet of 2 1/2inch hose. All apparatus, including tractor drawn steamer is equipped with two 3-gallon hand extinguishers and with cither Pyrene or J. M. hand extinguishers. The alarm system is the Gamewell with 27 boxes, whistle on electric light plant, gongs and indicators in each fire house and tappers in the homes of the foremen of each company and the chief of the department and his assistants. Transmitters are installed in each fire house through which all telephone or locals are sent in over the system, the driver receiving the alarm simply placing the dial, representing the nearest fire alarm box to the location of the fire, on the machine, pulling the handle down once and responding to the call. Each company receives $1,250 per year from the city and a very liberal budget besides for supplies, repairs, etc. Each company employs and pays its own drivers; owns its own houses, purchases all the apparatus with its own money and then presents same to the city free of all debt. The city is very liberal with the fire department and does its share towards keeping up the efficency by supplying it with all necessary tools, hose, equipment, etc. F. E. Soule, the present chief of the fire department, attended the fire school of the Philadelphia bureau of fire, through the courtesy of Chief Wm. H. Murphy and started a training school on the same lines here; this school created a great deal of interest and was the means of increasing the efficiency of the department to a marked degree. Fires are mainly extinguished with chemicals, which are “first in” at a fire, but water lines are always “stretched” and pumps connected to hydrants, to back up the chemical lines. The department responded to 72 alarms of fire during the past 12 months with a loss of only $3,985. The department covers territory a mile outside of city limits, also plant and camps of Midvale Steel & Ordinance Company, villages of Modena, Rock Run, Calu, Pomeroy and Thorndale, at all of which places alarms have been answered. We never have had a fire get out of the building it started in or never had a building totally destroyed, except one story frame shacks, which are usually practically lost before arrival of department. The above applies, of course, to inside the city limits. I am a great believer in fire prevention and work this to the limit, being ably assisted in my work by Deputy Chief William Moore.

With the arrival of the tractor drawn steamer of the Washington Fire Co. No. 1, from the Seagrave Co., Columbus, O., the Fire Department of the City of Coatesville, Pa., is completely motorized. Coatesville is a steel manufacturing city of approximately 20,000 inhabitants, located 40 miles west of Philadelphia and has a great many frame dwelling with shingle roofs, the streets are macadamized, the fire hydrants are plentiful and well spaced, the water system is unexcelled; there is a pressure of from 40 to 65 pounds on the low pressure hydrants and a pressure of from 85 to 125 pounds on the new high pressure hydrants; this high pressure system covers a very dangerous section of the city and also the high points. The new water works have been finished, the dam holding 300,000,000 gallons of water, being located about three miles above the city. The fire department consists of three companies, all purely volunteer and each company having a membership of approximately 350, with an active working force, elected each year, of 30 men. The Washington Fire Co. No. 1 has a Seagrave Combination hose and chemical car with two 35-gallon chemical tanks, mounted turret pipe with three-way attachments, and a carrying capacity of 1,200 feet of 2 1/2-inch hose; one Metropolitan 3rd class steamer drawn by a Seagrave tractor and an automobile ambulance which latter answers all alarms of fire. The Brandywine Fire Co. No. 2 has an American-La France city service ladder truck with 40-gallon chemical tank attached; on American-La France triple combination pump, chemical and hose car, 800 gallons of water per iminute capacity, one 40-gallon chemical tank and a carrying capacity of 1,000 feet of 2 1/2-inch hose. One motor propelled patrol which answers all fire calls. The West End Fire Co. No. 3 has a Rowe triple combination pump, chemical and hose car, 750 gallons of water per minute capacity, one 60-gallon chemical tank and a carrying capacity of 1,000 feet of 2 1/2inch hose. All apparatus, including tractor drawn steamer is equipped with two 3-gallon hand extinguishers and with cither Pyrene or J. M. hand extinguishers. The alarm system is the Gamewell with 27 boxes, whistle on electric light plant, gongs and indicators in each fire house and tappers in the homes of the foremen of each company and the chief of the department and his assistants. Transmitters are installed in each fire house through which all telephone or locals are sent in over the system, the driver receiving the alarm simply placing the dial, representing the nearest fire alarm box to the location of the fire, on the machine, pulling the handle down once and responding to the call. Each company receives $1,250 per year from the city and a very liberal budget besides for supplies, repairs, etc. Each company employs and pays its own drivers; owns its own houses, purchases all the apparatus with its own money and then presents same to the city free of all debt. The city is very liberal with the fire department and does its share towards keeping up the efficency by supplying it with all necessary tools, hose, equipment, etc. F. E. Soule, the present chief of the fire department, attended the fire school of the Philadelphia bureau of fire, through the courtesy of Chief Wm. H. Murphy and started a training school on the same lines here; this school created a great deal of interest and was the means of increasing the efficiency of the department to a marked degree. Fires are mainly extinguished with chemicals, which are “first in” at a fire, but water lines are always “stretched” and pumps connected to hydrants, to back up the chemical lines. The department responded to 72 alarms of fire during the past 12 months with a loss of only $3,985. The department covers territory a mile outside of city limits, also plant and camps of Midvale Steel & Ordinance Company, villages of Modena, Rock Run, Calu, Pomeroy and Thorndale, at all of which places alarms have been answered. We never have had a fire get out of the building it started in or never had a building totally destroyed, except one story frame shacks, which are usually practically lost before arrival of department. The above applies, of course, to inside the city limits. I am a great believer in fire prevention and work this to the limit, being ably assisted in my work by Deputy Chief William Moore.