Firemen At College Here Learn From Demonstrations

Firemen attending the Michigan Fire College at the University this week are learning new ways of doing things by practical demonstration as well as by lecture. The billowing clouds of smoke in this picture shows what happens when water is poured on a magnesium blaze. Harry "Smokey" Rogers is the man with the water, who conducted the demonstration. Magnesium is a metal used extensively in some defense industries. One of the pictures below shows the effect of black powder on the flames.

Training firemen are receiving at the Michigan Fire college being conducted by the University extension service this week includes testing ladders so firemen will know when they're safe when needed. Sandbags are placed on a suspended ladder as pictured above, and the amount of sag is measured. A few months later, the process is repeated, and if the sag is considerably higher, the ladder is considered unsafe.

Ordinary fire extinguishers such as chemicals and water applied to a magnesium fire only make it burn more intensely. A black powder developed by a commercial chemical firm will do the trick, however, and this picture shows one of the technicians demonstrating how to use it at the Michigan Fire college at the University. Demonstrations are held each afternoon during the school this week.