Courtesy Photo | An insert from Service to the Fleet dated Oct. 2, 1953, the pumper used in 1953 had an...... read more read more
Story By Victoria Pendleton • Non-Nuclear Inspection Employee Development Branch Quality Assurance Specialist
Photos from the Shipyard Archives
Observation of National Fire Prevention Week here at Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) is a long-standing tradition going back decades. It is the first week of October chosen to coincide with the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 that caused, in today’s terms, $5.4 billion dollars worth of damage in just two days. That degree of damage would cause unimaginable upheaval to NNSY’s mission of getting warships back to the fleet. The fire safety efforts used on the waterfront today were established in decades past and have stood the test of time.
In 1953, the slogan “Fire Feeds on Careless Deeds” reminded NNSY personnel to maintain good housekeeping by removing rags and paper, utilize all safety precautions during welding and properly stow flammable material while also first establishing a program for year-round fire safety. These practices are still in place and can even be found in the most recent edition of the NNSY Employee Safety Handbook produced by the Occupational Safety, Health, and Environment Department (Code 106). Stretching back through the decades, NNSY was serving as part of the greater community through the mutual aid agreement with surrounding fire departments even before the program was put in place in the 1950s.
By 1978, National Fire Prevention Week had become a festive event that included a parade, hot dog feast and an open house of Building 236 which has served as home for NNSY firefighters for almost a century. Part of the festive atmosphere centered on the celebration of the shipyard receiving two Seagrave chassis based “Yellow Bird” fire pumper trucks. These trucks were described as the first of their kind assigned to the shipyard: trucks designed from the chassis up to exclusively serve as fire fighting vehicles. Along with power steering and brakes, they boasted room inside the cabs so that no one would be at risk from collision standing on the rear running board, features common in firetrucks today but revolutionary then.
While practices and equipment have been improved on and updated over the decades of National Fire Prevention Week, the core message has remained the same. Ultimately, the efforts are put into place to protect the valuable and irreplaceable component in NNSY: its workforce. Fire Chief Waverly Sykes, who can be seen in pictures as far back as 1934, stated in 1975, “Damaged buildings, equipment and ships can usually be repaired or replaced, but [people] who are badly burned cannot always be made whole again.”
| Date Taken: | 10.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.11.2023 13:22 |
| Story ID: | 455532 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, THE HERITAGE HOUR: A Glance Into the Vital History of Norfolk Naval Shipyard LOG 10-23: Fire Prevention Week Across NNSY History, by Victoria Pendleton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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