without justification. And so, here briefly is the firemen's training record
of my State.

There are only 282 volunteer fire departments and four fully paid fire
departments in Maryland. Of these, more than 75 per cent will have
men in training in any given year, which is a good percentage of our
potential. More than 2, 000 firemen engage in firemanship training
every year. This, on a statewide per-company basis, is a sizeable number.

As another concrete example of the emphasis we place on fire pro-
tection, let me point out that the University of Maryland has established
a four-year residence program, leading to a Bachelor of Science degree
in fire protection. This program, now in its junior year, is headed by
Professor John L. Bryan, who spoke to you last year on "The Psychology
of Panic. "

An indication of the scope of this program is to be found in the fact
that the Eastern Underwriters Association will sponsor up to 60 scholar-
ships in fire protection. Other scholarships were granted previously by
the Maryland State Fireman's Association, the Ladies Auxiliary to the
Maryland State Firemen's Association and the Prince George's and
Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firemen's Associations. This action
on the part of Maryland firemen in providing scholarships to prospective
students for fire training shows clearly that firemen are conscious of the
need for better education in our field. Here again we see that we have
indeed come a long way. And now the question arises: Where do we
go from here?

The brightest spot on the horizon is the increasing interest among
Maryland firemen in fire prevention. Baltimore City has initiated an
excellent program of in-service inspections which have as their purpose
the elimination of fire hazards. The training these Baltimore firemen
undergo before they go out to make inspections is, incidentally, of the
highest quality.

The Maryland State Firemen's Association, under President Howard
Springer, has embarked upon a determined program to make fire pre-
vention activities among fire departments of Maryland a statewide
activity.

We firemen have an annual trophy for superiority in fire prevention
in our State, known as the Venemann Trophy. The competition each
year is keen and widespread. But the finest thing about fire prevention
contests is that finally the citizens of the State are the winners—not the
fire department which gets its name inscribed upon a cup.

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