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Show Ward Fire Emphasizes Need IN ANY community disaster such as last week's Stratford Ward fire there is bound to be criticism of the fire department. de-partment. There are always bystanders who think they know more than the firemen, and don't mlind telling everyone so. A certain amount of the criticism heard last Saturday, August 26, can be attributed to the human wish to 'find a scajpegoat whenever something dreadful happens. However, it is rather disturbing to find that some perhaps per-haps much of the criticism was well founded. And that goes for both the fire and police departments. Why, for instance, couldn't the police have been there as quickly as the bulk of the onlookers? A terrible traffic jam, which prevented efficient fire fighting, had developed before the police force did anything about it. Even then, we noted one resident, Mel Savllle, out on the intersection of 17th East and Stratford Ave., directing traffic in the absence of any police. Mr. Saville prevented dozens of can's from going west on Stratford Avenue, and thus helping to ease congestion. Why, many citizens asked, weren't the firemen equipped to cut a hole through the roof in the early stages and direct i the spray on the fire in the attic? With gas masks and asbestos suits, the citizens say, the jol could have been done, and the fire brought under control. Now, The Bulletin wants to be fair, and so do the people of the Southeast area. The thing that happened this time may happen again. The police and firemen aire welcome to make their story public through the columns of this paper. They probably had good reasons for doing what they did, or not doing what some people think should have been done. In any case, let's air the problem out. |
