FARM FIRE MENACE 



This may happen on your ianni More 

 than 40.000 bams were either destroyed 



or damaged by fire in the United States 

 last year. Check your barn (or fire hazards. 



ORGANIZE TO FIGHT IT! . . . 



Every 15 minutes during the day a 

 farm home or farm building catches 

 fire in the United States! 



With this figure in mind, the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture urges all 

 farmers to take advantage of fire pre- 

 vention week, Oct. 8 to 14, to organize 

 local fire-fighting groups. Cooperative 

 neighborhood action, efficiently or- 

 ganized, will give the farmers better 

 protection against fires and help cut 

 down the nation's fire loss, according 

 to the National Fire Protection Asso- 

 ciation. , 



Figures show that the nation's fire 

 loss showed a sharp increase over 

 19-42, with indications it will go even 

 higher by the end of 1944. More than 

 10,000 persons lost their lives and 

 more than 370 million dollars in prop- 

 erty was destroyed. 



Next to the home, the barn is the 

 most important building on the farm. 

 Yet, largely through carelessness more 

 than 40,000 barns were either destroyed 

 or damaged by fire in the United States 

 last year. 



SO THIS COMMUNITY DID JUST THAT! 



A BRIGHT, new swanky red fire 

 truck is now available to 100 co- 

 operating farmers for fighting fires on 

 farms in the vicinity of Manhattan, 

 Will county, as the result of many peo- 

 ple working towards a community ob- 

 jective, according to John H. Brock, 

 farm adviser. This project has been ac- 

 complished as a result of the efforts of 

 a local committee, the Extension Serv- 

 ice of the College of Agriculture, the 

 Will County Farm Bureau, and the Illi- 

 nois Agricultural Association. 



Two years ago the first series of 

 meetings of the Wartime Educational 

 Program for Agriculture presented fire 

 prevention as one of the discussion top- 

 ics. These meetings were conducted by 

 local people in their school districts un- 

 der the county co-chairmanship of 

 Leonard W. Braham and Mrs. Edith 

 Huffman, former Will county farm and 

 home advisers. - v . :• 



After discussing the need for fire 

 prevention, the local school district 

 groups around Manhattan decided to 

 do something more than talk about it. 



They appointed a committee composed 

 of Harry White, chairman, George 

 Bovee, Henry Eberhardt, Wilbur Fran- 

 cis, Robert Haley, Arbie Seltzer and 

 Harvey Weibel. 



Braham worked closely with the 

 committee and attended many of the 

 committee meetings. About a year ago 

 it was decided to organize a stock com- 

 pany. Paul Mathias of the lAA legal 

 department assisted in preparing the 

 necessary legal papers for organizing 

 the association. 



As it now functions, the truck and 

 its fire fighting equipment is owned by 

 the corporation known as the Manhat- 

 tan Rural Fire Protection Association 

 with a board of five directors. Officers 

 of the association are Harry White, 

 chairman; George Bovee. secretary; 

 Arbie Seltzer, treasurer; Wilbur Fran- 

 cis and Harvey Weibel. 



The purchasing and maintenance of 

 the truck and equipment has been ac- 

 complished by the sale of two shares 

 of 125 stock and an annual membership 

 i fee of $5.00. From this membership 

 fee the directors hope to be able to lay 

 aside sufficient income above actual 

 cost of operation to cover depreciation 

 of the equipment. The board has 

 agreed to purchase the stock of any 

 landowner or operator in case of a sale. 



The rural truck will be operated by 

 the Manhattan Volunteer Fire Depart- 

 ment. As an example of effective co- 

 operation between rural and urban 

 groups, arrangements have been made 

 for both trucks to be used in either the 

 town or the country at any time there 

 is a fire of serious enouch proportions 

 to need both pieces of equipment. 



As soon as some additional pieces 

 of small equipment are secured by the 

 association and approved by the under- 

 writers, farmers who are cooperating 

 in this project have been told that they 

 can get a sizeable reduction in their 

 fire insurance rates on their buildings 

 and personal equipment. 



This bright, new red fire truck of the Man- 

 hattan Rural Fire Protection Association 

 makes an appropriate picture for Fire Pre- 



vention Week. Left to right: Arbie Seltzer, 

 George Boyee, Wilbur Francis. Harry 

 White's son. Mr. White and Harrey WeibeL 



OCTOBER, 1944 



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