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1970
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1970 - Deputy Chief Hobbs in the office of Chief of Operations.
1970 - Tanker 1 supplying water. One of many large grass fires.
Grass fire.
1970 - Cowtown Fire Barn.
1970 - Inside Cowtown Fire Barn.
1970 - Inside Cowtown Fire Barn.
1970 - Inside Cowtown Fire Barn. Last brass fire pole and circular stairway from #1 and #2 Stations.
1970 - Off-duty firefighters pulling hand pumper at Cowtown during a demonstration.
March 1970 - C & M Tire Co. - Pawnee and West.
July 2, 1970 - Vinegar Works, 3200 W. Central.
July 2, 1970 - Vinegar Works fire - control ropes on ladder pipe broke.
November 1, 1970 - Wellington Place Baptist Church fire.
November 17, 1970 - the department finds the going rough at a Wichita tavern.
District Chiefs (note helmet numbers) - Jack D. Baumann, Marvin J. Burnett, Chester J. Flye, Wallace H. Smith.
"They brought down the roof."
"Total exhaustion."
| On January 1, 1970, a new shift schedule was inaugurated after being voted on by the men and which won overwhelming acceptance. The new shift arrangement provided for twenty-four hours on duty and forty-eight hours off, but continued to be a 56-hour work-week. This new shift schedule replaced a 10 + 14 hour shift previously worked for one year and disliked by the men.
Early that spring, grass fires were keeping the department busy. There were 471 fires in February, 154 of them were grass fires. March saw a spectacular fire at the C & M Tire Company, 2440 South West Street. Automobile tires by the thousands went up in dense hot smoke that exhausted firefighters and coated them internally as well as externally with a black greasy residue from the burning rubber.
In May, a $100,000 fire at Charles Thriftway Market, 4605 South Seneca occurred. As a result of ten major fires in grocery stores in a eight-year period with an estimated $839,400 loss record, Chief Carney ordered an inspection program for grocery stores in an attempt to curb the frequency of fires.
A month later in July, the old Vinegar Works in the 3200 block of West Central burned. The fires continued to burn that year - September the Jabara Brothers Grocery, $200,000 loss; Ward Material & Supply, $175,000 and the May & Elizabeth Apartments, $50,000. In addition, Fire Marshal Anderson reported that 36 vacant houses had been involved in fire during the year.
By the end of 1970, rumors spread that since the ambulance service could not pay their taxes, the Wichita Fire Department would be in the ambulance business before long. Fire loss for 1970 was $1,369, 561. There were 5,359 alarms and nine fire deaths. Arson was said to have accounted for more than $500,000 of that loss.
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Related to 12 - A New Beginning |
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