 WAR-TIME
- The development of numerous wartime
stations in locations far removed from any civilian assistance brought some
recognition of the requirement for an in house fire service. Fire fighters from
civilian fire departments were recruited, and usually given Sgt rank. These
became the nucleus of the RCAF Fire Service at each station. The rank and file
was a combination of Fire Fighter tradesmen and general duties personnel (GD's)
plus whatever other surplus personnel were available. Short courses were held
for most of these direct entry NCO's. The Ontario Fire Marshal ran the first
ones until a school was organized at RCAF Stn Trenton. Eventually several senior
civilian Fire Dept personnel were commissioned as Fire Protection Officers (FPO's).
The manning of crash tenders at stations was often, if not always the
responsibility of flight line personnel. They would be taught how to handle the
crash tender as it was then called, and then would be on their own. The writer
recalls vividly landing after a night flight engine fire, which was extinguished
with the built in fire extinguisher. After swinging off the runway and flashing
an SOS on the planes signal light, a crash tender finally came out from the
flight line. The driver told me to start up the engines and taxi in to the
hangar line. Fortunately I remembered my instructions and refused. Starting up
after an engine fire was punishable by washout from flying training. I hitched a
ride back in with the driver who was a rigger. He was most disgruntled as I had
interrupted a good hand of cards.
By Phil Brown, Major, Retired -
(Excerpts From Phil's History Of The Fire Service 1939-1975) |
