FIRE FIGHTING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 February 1942, Page 4

FIRE FIGHTING

EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT IN MASTERTON TRAILER PUMP ARRIVES. TWO ADDITIONAL UNITS NOW AVAILABLE. Masterton is now well prepared for any emergency as far as the fire fighting services are concerned. The arrival this morning of a trailer pumping outfit completes the emergency equipment required locally and forms a valuable addition to the fire fighting facilities in Masterton. This new unit, which has a capacity for pumping 400 gallons of water a minute, will be added to the equipment at the Masterton Fire Station and will be available for emergency service at the Waingawa Freezing Works or in Masterton. It is fitted with a standard motor car engine of a wellknown make, developing 85 horsepower which operates the pumping plant, capable of drawing water into or out of the mains or from another source of supply. The trailer can be drawn by a medium sized car or by manpower. Incidentally, except for the hose, the whole of the trailer and its equipment was made in New Zealand. A comprehensive handbook detailing its mechanism and instructions for running it has been prepared by the manufacturers for the benefit of those using the trailer. These trailers, it is understood, have been sent to the Far East and elsewhere overseas and. are considered as good as any produced in other countries.

In addition to this unit, the Masterton Borough Council has a pumping plant and chlorinating gear fitted on a motor chassis for use in an emergency. This pump has handled 540 gallons of water per minute under 501 b pressure per square inch. It is driven by a motor car engine, similar to the one in the trailer pump and has all its main auxiliary fittings in duplicate, as a precaution against mishap. This pump is capable of drawing water from a river or stream into the mains, if the reservoir supply were interrupted and by the use of the chlorinating plant, the water could be made available for household purposes. The pump can also be used for fire-fighting and can be adapted to feed a fire engine, if necessary. Practically the whole of the work entailed in fitting up this unit was carried out by Masterton Borough workmen.

The training of additional firemen for duty in an emergency is also well advanced. For some time past sections of the E.P.S. and the Emergency Fire Service have been receiving instruction in fire fighting.