DALLAS FIRE-RESCUE

Contact: Lt. Doug Dickerson

Office: 214-670-7949 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pager: 214-670-4115, pin # 9885

Dallas Fire-Rescue’s Walt Bowman to be Honored at Dallas City Council Meeting for 55 Years of Service

Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2002

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Location: City Council Chambers

Dallas City Hall

Details: Walt A. Bowman was hired by the City of Dallas to become one of its firefighters on March 1, 1947. Today, his 55-year career with Dallas Fire-Rescue will be recognized by the members of the Dallas City Council.

· Walt Bowman joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 17, and was on base at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked on December 7, 1941. He served four years in the Navy, primarily on battleships.

· In March of 1947, Walt joined the then-Dallas Fire Department. He served 38 years as a sworn firefighter, retiring at the rank of Captain.

· Following by-pass surgery in 1985, Bowman accepted a light-duty assignment in the Department’s Maintenance Division. He retired as a sworn firefighter that year, and become a civilian member of the department, remaining in the Maintenance Division.

· While on light duty, Walt developed a method of fire-scene lighting that far surpassed what had been in effect. His improvements were so effective that they remain in use today.

· As a civilian member of the department, he contributed further to the well-being and safety of firefighters by developing a program for the maintenance and repair of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). That program was studied by the manufacturer of the apparatus, and remains a model today for the efficient repair and safe use of SCBA.

· Walt is still building better mousetraps for his colleagues at Dallas Fire-Rescue.