Introduction
William Earle Doan is best remembered as an Auxiliary Fireman with the Camden Fire Department and as an active member of the South Jersey Fire Buffs Association.
50 Volunteer Firemen Complete Training for Emergency Duties
Camden Courier-Post —
Edward Friant, of 124 North Thirtieth Street, descending from a tall building on a rope by using a life belt.
Charles Geitz, of 465 Mechanic Street, left, and Nicholas Iacovelli, of 1303 Decatur Street, using asbestos suits in the middle of roaring flames. The suits, according to Fire Captain Ray Smith, instructor at the school, are able to withstand 1,750 degrees of heat.
Camden's first group of war and emergency volunteer firemen received their “diplomas” last night on completion of their training at the fire school in No. 10 firehouse, Ninth Street and Morgan Boulevard.
They are the initial volunteers to be trained as a reserve for the city fire department in an emergency. The volunteers, 50 of them, will be on 24-hour call. Eventually more than 500 men are expected to receive the training course for a huge reserve similar to the corps of firemen now being used in London.
The men range in ages from 11 to 59 years with Charles Smith, son of Sgt. Ray Smith, being the youngest, and Harry L. Freidel, the oldest.
The training course started May 12 and the trainees have attended three sessions a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, for seven weeks under the direction of Fire Captain Raymond Smith, no relation to the sergeant, who is director of the training school. Smith is a graduate of Class 56, of the Philadelphia Fire Training School.
Each volunteer fireman will be issued an identification card which will hold his fingerprints.
Class Praised
Among those congratulating the graduates were Herbert E. Harper, chairman of the Camden Defense Council; William C. Schriver, council member; Fire Chief John Lennox and Captain Smith. Howard Odrain, deputy chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department with 31 years of experience in fighting fires, attended as an observer.
“In behalf of the Camden City Defense Council, I want to thank you men for the hours and days you have put into taking this course,” Harper told the graduates.
“You have been prompt in attendance and have been attentive. We don't anticipate any air raids or any acts of war-invasion, but we have an important problem in enabling national defense industries in Camden city to make load in their jobs.
“The sabotage committee of the defense council has been visiting the local industries encouraging the plants to set up their own fire fighting squads and many are doing so. You men will be needed in times of an emergency to aid these forces and to assist at industries where there is no fire fighting squads.”
Chief Lennox termed the volunteers “our second line of defense” and thanked them for their cooperation.
Training Complete
The course included training in all phases of fire-fighting from operating pumpers to climbing ladders and combating incendiaries. Rescue work also was included. The use of gas masks and asbestos suits in chemical fires, how to approach delayed bombs with snubbers and the proper methods of using extinguishers were taught. A demonstration was held outside the firehouse by the volunteers. Their activities included scaling ladders, using gas masks to enter a smoke house, climbing and working on the top of the fire tower, using an aerial truck, tying tools for the lifting to tools, working on the end of water lines, working on pumpers, hooking up to stand pipes, jumping into life nets, tying life ropes and using asbestos suits through flaming gasoline and oil.
The Class
The graduates included: George D. Wilkinson, fire marshal of the RCA Manufacturing Company, and his two sons, Ernest and George; Garfield Watson, sergeant of police at New York Shipbuilding Corporation; Lieut. George Hamilton, Jr., of the 157th Field Artillery; Captain William Hare, of the Kaighn Avenue-South Street Ferry.
Harry B. Thompson, Earl Denby, Lester W. Giberson, Norman P. Maull, Joseph Leone, Samuel Schuele, George P. Smith, Joseph Marchese, Nicholas A. Messaro, William S. Martz, William E. Doan, Elwood P. Martz, Jr., Clyde Getzinger, George W. Grove, Stephen Kirby, James W. McCracken, William Watkin, Manuel Weiss, Riccardo DiGiacomo, Louis Cimini, William P. Walter, Sigmund Yakaski, Nicholas Iacovelli, Robert Holmes, Walter D. Lohrman.
Myer J. Mutter, Charles Geitz, Charles A. B. Smith, Howard Doerschner, Harry L. Freidel, Franklin L. Wright, Paul W. Kessler, Warren I. Carter, Creston Polland, Edward E. Friant, Frank F. Shropshire, Charles Gall, Albert E. Pine, Nicholas Cerasoli, George W. Williams, Joseph G. Foster, Joseph Elliott, George Hance and Irving L. Stiefel.
Camden Fire Department Personnel Record
Reserve Fireman personnel record for William Earle Doan, assigned to Truck Company 3, dated February 12, 1952. Age 42, occupation Clerk at Sheridan, Bogan & Paul & Co. Previous fire training: Auxiliary Fireman, 1941 to 1942. Military training: Army, Tech Sgt., Honorable Discharge.