On Memorial Day, we recall the sacrifice of those who have defended our country. But peace is sometimes an uneasy time. Even though World War II was over, in the years following, the possibility of another, more devastating, war was the source of much anxiety. What would the fire service’s role be in such an event? In 1948, Fire Engineering’s Fred Sheppard considers how shifting again to a wartime economy could affect the fire service HERE.
In a presentation at a chief’s conference HERE, Chief Charles N. Carrell of Santa Monica, California considers the effect of war mobilization on fire service personnel, of which war veterans formed “the backbone.”
Five years after the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan leading to the end of World War II, Fred Sheppard consider how prepared the fire service is for responding to a potential World War III HERE.
As attention is focused on civil defense preparations in the event of a war, Fred Sheppard HERE notes that protecting against the real everyday danger, fire, is neglected. He references a Pittsburgh fire report HERE in the same issue in which a compromised water supply had devastaing effects.
Finally, a full-scale drill response mobilized 600 firefighters from eight counties in response to a simulated atomic bombing of Utica, New York, HERE.
