The White Falcon - 07.10.1983, Blaðsíða 5

October 7, 1983/THE WHITE FALCON 5
Fire Prevention Week-October 9-15
U.S. Naval Station Keflavik Fire Department -1983
The Naval Station Fire Department con-
sists of three different departments —
Fire Prevention, Fire Protection and Air-
field Operations. Although different in
nature, all three serve the common goals of
personnel , operations and aviation safety
at Naval Station, Keflavik. A total of 109
men make up these branches and the head
director is Sveinn Eriksson, the Fire Chief.
Ever since the establishment of an air-
field at Keflavik during World War II there
has been a fire department around. During
WWII the department was manned by members
of the Army Air Force. Later, upon their
departure in 1947 U.S. civilians working
for the American Overseas Airlines and then
Lockheed personnel manned the department.
In 1951, upon the establishment of Keflavik
as a NATO Base and consequent arr.ival of
the U.S. Air Force the department was man-
ned by Air Force military personnel and U.S.
civilians.
The first Icelanders to be hired as fire
fighters arrived in April and May 1952. Of
the eight young men hired at that time,
four still remain with the department --
Sveinn Eriksson, Fire Chief; Magnus Olafs-
son, Chief of the Airfield Operations
Branch; Hall dor Marteinsson, Assistant Fire
Chief; and Gudmundur Petursson, Fire Cap-
tain. In 1952 an approximate equilibrium
existed between the members of the U.S. Air
Force civilian employees and Icelandic per-
sonnel which remained in effect until 1961
when the U.S. Navy became the host service
for Keflavik.
At that time all Air Force personnel
were relieved by sailors and U.S. civilians
were gradually replaced by Icelanders until
1963 when the fire chief was relieved by
Sveinn Eriksson, our present chief. In or-
der to maintain continuity in training and
stability of personnel. Navy personnel
gradually decreased in numbers until 1971
when the last sailor was relieved. Since
that time the fire department has been man-
ned exclusively by Icelanders.
Besides the containment and control of
several potential major fires, perhaps the
department's greatest achievements have
been in fire prevention matters. The Naval
Station, Keflavik fire department endeavors
in fire prevention have been recognized on
numerous occasions by the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA) since 1966
when the department was presented with a
first place award in the Navy section of
the NFPA's national competition between
departments in Canada and the United Sta-
tes .
Since then the department has been hon-
ored by the NFPA as first place winners in
the Navy section five times. Twice they
have been the first place winners within
the Department of Defense and once, in 1980,
as the grand award winner for all of the
U.S. and Canada. Achievements such as
these are only possible when a fire depart-
ment enjoys good and strong support from
the commands and the people in the commun-
ity they serve.
One of the biggest worries for the firefighters is the possibility of housing fires.