Going to Blazes! (1948)

Apparently there is a call to a fire station every other minute in the United States, causing over 10,000 deaths a year and $600 millions in damage. Over twenty thousand fires occur in Los Angeles alone and that’s where this short documentary takes us, as we follow the fire crews attending everything from a cigarette-burned mattress to a 400-pupil wooden school now little more than kindling. We learn a little of the hectic nature of their jobs, their unpredictable eating habits and of their attempts to warn Joe or Jean public of the dangers of hoarding or overloading power sockets or leaving the wet laundry on a power extension. This latter element does rather presuppose that it’s the housewife that’s to blame, but I suppose that’s how the filmmakers perceived LA life in 1948 and though it is a bit cringemaking to watch now, it still makes a valid point about carelessness causing conflagrations. It’s a job that requires preparation, co-ordination and courage and if you can overlook the stereotyping, it’s an interesting look at how emergency services coped in days when fire towers, maps and index cards were crucial tools.