EXPERIENCED FIREMEN NEEDED

Hokitika Guardian, 14 November 1917, Page 4

EXPERIENCED FIREMEN NEEDED

mjNF.DIN,- Nov. Bill, '['lie loss of trained firemen was

severely felt in connection with the blaze at Edmond’s hardware warehouse. Superintendent Napier, of the. City Fire Brigade, says:—“The fire gives the community a - severe and necessary lesson. The military have taken from the brigade a number of experienced men and their loss was very severely felt. I wish to recognise the work done by men belonging to the brigade. They did excellent service, but ‘they -arc mostly new hands without the training that a fire like this gives, and it- is only by such training that the highest efficiency can be readied. They will be the better for the experience. I feel very strongly that the city cannot afford to wait for a big fire for teaching purposes. The men who w ere taken as soldiers had knowledge born of experience, and that is of the greatest use under such conditions as we went through this morning. T feel the position very strongly. I told the Military Service Board at the time that they were making a mistake in taking the trained men. Now my warning is verified. I don’t undervalue my men or sav a word against mom. What I do wish to impress upon the authorities -is that men not trained to big fires cannot he so expert in such fires ns men who have been through the experience.”