view raw text
PREPARED FOR EMERGENCIES Narragansett Officials Take Notice of Numerous Recent Disastrous Fires at Tracks. PAWTUCKET, R. I., June 24. Taking serious heed of the numerous fire disasters which in the not too dim and distant past have taken toll of thoroughbred horseflesh in Omaha, Maryland, New Hampshire, Ohio, Toronto and other North American sectors, Walter E. OHara, at Narragansett Park, has instituted extraordinary precautions against this dread hazard by ordering mobilization of a fifty-man volunteer fire department at the big Rhode Island plant over which he so ably presides. Although equipped since the day of its inception with numerous high pressure fire hydrants; with five direct telephones able to summon fire departments of Pawtucket, East Providence, Providence, Central Falls and Attleboro; two fire-fighting water trucks which stand by day and night; with all watchmen carrying fire extinguishers and strict rules enforced as to the disposal of all inflammable waste-Narragansett now shows the way with a completely equipped and expertly instructed fire-fighting unit. This unit with full crews on special duty twenty-four hours each day will be under the direction of general superintendent E. P. McClain. The crew off duty will be summoned to the track in case of emergency by Narragansetts ear-splitting siren alarm, audible for more than ten miles. The volunteer fire-fighting plan has drawn widespread commendation from fire officials throughout Rhode Island. They point out that the state and its various communities spend huge sums of money each year in fire prevention work and that the Narragansett proposal is in direct line with this program.
