BIRKENHEAD'S FIRE-FIGHTING SERVICES:
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Heavy Risks Carried by a Motor-equipped Brigade which Protects a Busy Area. The Organization of the Fire and Ambulance Services.
THE three motor fire-engines in tho service of the Birkenhead Corporation are sufficient to provide adequate protection for an area which carries a population of close on 200,000, fourfifths of which are resident in the county borough of Birkenhead. The brigade is the protecting authority not only for the municipality, by Which it is maintained, but for 26 outside rural districts within an area of twelve miles.
The greatest risks, of course, are those which arise within the dock estate, where outbreaks of fire on oceangoing steamers are fraught with grave possibilities unless tackled promptly and adequately by the most efficient firefighting appliances. Hence the 13irkenhead Fire Brigade has a working arrangement with the Wallasey Corporation Fire Brigade whereby, if " one authority is faced by an emergency, it can call on the services of the other. Similarly, at serious Birkenhead fires there is an arrangement;: whereby, if
necessary, assistance can be had from Liverpool.
Prior to. the year 1893. the responsibility for fire extinction rested with the police department, the equipment of which comprised at that time a manual engine and hose-cart. The procedure in those days was for a person to run to the nearest police station and give the alarm, then when sufficient policemen could be obtained " the reel," as it was then termed, was pushed along the streets to the scene of the outbreak. Following a serious fire, some years ago, the brigade was reorganized and constituted a separate department of the watch committee. New equipment was obtained and a System of alarm boxes
instituted throughout the town. w It was not until 1010, however, that the first motor pump was obtained, this being a Dennis of 450 gallons capacity, equipped with telescopic ladders. This proved such a useful unit that a further Dennis machine of similar capacity Was
purchased, followed by -a Leyland mothr pump of 600 gallons capacity carrying a 60-ft. escape. More recently has been purchased a (1..M.C. special appliances van in which are carried smoke helmets, resuscitation outfits, chemical extinguishers, etc., such as are -needed When dealing with fires of a special character. There is also it Leyland trailer pump in_ service. The brigade has access to
2,200 hydrants.
One motor fire-engine, apart from the celerity with which it can reach a fire, has a pumping capacity roughly equivalent to that of three of the old horsedrawn pumps, and it carries a quantity of hose that 20 years ago would have made it necessary to turn out a horse tender. Furthermore, it is equipped with an escape which, in the old days, had to be transported separately.
In an interview with a representative of The Comntercial Motor, Chief Officer J. T. Burns, M.I.F.E., said that prior to the institution of motor engines, three horse-drawn vehicles each employing two horses had to respond to fire calls, and apart from the longer travelling time they were unable to render the same measure of service as one motor pump. and a fewer number of men. The last horsed fire-engine left the service of the brigade in 1910.
The whole of the area for which the Birkenhead Fire-Brigade is the protecting authority is policed from premises at -Whetstone Lane. There are no divi:yional stations at present, but one is in course of erection at the north end of the town, about two miles away, adjacent to the dock estate, where hazardous risks concerned with oil works, shipping, etc., have to be covered. This station_ will he opened in four or five months' time, and will house a motor fire-engine, a motor ambulance and a staff of seven men and an officer.
The brigade headquarters are situated 24miles from the northern extremity of the borough boundary and three miles from the southern end, the town itself being built at no -great depth, along the length of the Mersey riverside.
It is, however, in the dock districts that the greatest demands are made upon the resources of the brigade, because ship fires present problems that do not occur in ordinary works and factory fires.
Fires on ships in the River Mersey are also risks which come Within the jurisdiction of this fire brigade and on such occasions, rare though they may be, the engines have to be embarked on a river boat, and thus taken alongside the affected steamer.
The number of calls to fires or sup
posed fires to which the Birkenhead Fire Brigade responded during the year 1926 was 129, as against 127 in 1925, and all but 18 occurred within the borough
boundaries. The total loss was assessed at 165,834, and the estimated value at risk £531,652, whilst in the previous year (1925) the loss amounted to £77,463 on £1,637,922 at risk.
During the past year the brigade was engaged at fires for 305 hrs. 50 mins., or an average of 2 hrs. 22 rains. at each fire, and the distance travelled was 389 miles, or an average of three miles per journey. Of the fires which occurred during the year, 70 broke out between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. It is interesting to note that in 1908, the year in which fire losses were lowest (£8,328), the value of the property at risk touched high-water mark, i.e., £2,276,089. For the past three years, fire losses have been £54,265, £77,463 and £65,834 respectively.
In no month of last year did the motor fire-engines, of the Birkenhead Corporation cover a greater gross mileage than 60, and in the mouth of August only four miles were traversed, the brigade during that month being occupied 1 hr. 21 miss. In September, however, the mileage was 52, and the time occupied at fires 192 hrs. 55 mins.—twice as great as the time for all the other fire engagements during the rest of the year.
The number of street fire alarms in Birkenhead is being gradually reduced, and, at the present time, there are only 32 in t(se. These are located in the parts of the town where the risks are heaviest: Chief Officer Burns holds the opinion that, in view of the increasing number of telephone kiosks being established, there is no longer any neees sity to develop separate street alarm installations. Fire calls may be put through the public telephones quite as speedily as by the use of street alarm boxes.
In all big works there are notices over the telephone instruments intimating that in case of fire or accident rt'o telephone number is required. The tele
phone user has simply to ask for "Birkenhead Fire Brigade." It is hoped to have similar notices exhibited in all the public telephone kiosks, each of which may then function as a potential street alarm signal-box. Twelve local works, public buildings, etc., have direct communication with the station.
From the moment of the receipt of a Are call, the " first-turn," with a crew
at least five men, is on the road -Within one Minute by day or by •night, and a: second unit within two minutes. The "first turn" is the Dennis motor pump; the "second turn" the Leyland pump and escape; the "third turn" a 1910 Dennis pump. If on arrival at a fire the officer in charge of the " firsttUrn "-linds-aii additional pump is necessary he telephones the code message " No. 1," which will ensurethe desPatch of the Leyland escape. If he telephones the message "No. 2 ".. the Dennis machine , turns cut, together with all other available .equipment. Should any further help be required units would be summoned froin Wallasey.
The Strength of the Birkenhead Fire Brigade.
The authorized strength of the Birkenhead Fire Brigade is three officers, three sub-officers and 25 firemen. During the night hours a crew of :five men is
always in readiness to turn out. • It is interesting to learn that Birkenhead has one fireman to every 128,148 worth of rateable propertyat risk, which does not include the large amount at risk in connection with shiPs and . Government buildings ; there is one fireman to every 5,016 persons and to every 126.9 acres. The fire-brigade rate is 2.Sd. in the
There are fire drills once a month, and at similar intervals every motor pump and appliance undergoes a thorough test. Two acetylene flares are uscd for illumination at night fires. All repair mid maintenance work is carried out by the fire-brigade staff. The average length of life of tyres on motor fireengines is calculated . at nine _years. Chief Officer Burns states that the Dunlop tyres on a 1911 Machine have only just been replaced, not because of wear so much as deterioration and loss of resiliency. . .
In addition to attending fires and ambulance cases the members of the brigade are regularly instructed in the use and management of the various fire appliances and in ambulance work, and they periodically inspect the whole of the hydrants in the borough on the Birkenhead side of the dock estate and in the districts of Neston and Parkgate 'Urban District Council. The street fire alarms are tested weekly to see that they are in proper working order.
The ambulance service is maintained by three units, a Minerva, a Scat and a. Daimlbr. The motor ambulances were introduced in 1911, since when there has been a series of replacements and changes which have crystallized in the existing fleet, this-being stationed at.the fire brigade headquarters. The area Served by the ambulances is precisely
that covered by the fire brigade, and the only ambulance service available in the Birkenhead distriet is that maintained by the corporation. All calls in respect of accidents and sudden illness are answered, and the ambulances also undertake journeys for the local hospitals.
These vehicles are equipped with resuscitation sets, including a cylinder of oxygen gas, which is brought luta use when artificial respiration methods cannot be applied or are not likely to be efficacious. Most of the ambulance calls are received from the dock-side and surrounding area.
The Work of the Motor Ambulances in the Past Year. . •
The ambulance service receives an average of about 110 calls per month. The, total: .for .last year-Was 1,265, the distance travelled being 4,973 miles, and the time occupied -687i -hours. The
average. time per journey was 32.11 minutes, and the average distance Ira
vel:ed 3.93 miles per journey. Incidentally it may be stated that, last. year's mileage. touched a record, being 562 more than the next highest year ,(1924). Of the calls for the ambulance 742 were receivedby post-office telephones, 318 by street fire alarms and. direct wires, 144' by police and messengers, and 61 by automatic telephones.