Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974 Civil defense changes emphasis in Houston THE POST News /features ID SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 1974 *. C defense changes emphasis in em Fp By MIMI CROSSLEY icals, medicine and engineer - Post Reporter ing. 3 The shift in civil defense is d ;.> Houston's civil defense ef- due in part to Fox and a e ` ; fort is trying to move out of campaign pledge made by £ r .P2 the bomb shelter "cave era" Hofheinz to move civil de- :;.h to aid people caught in the fense into the community. a grip of disasters from fire, The city post has traditio floods, explosions and hurri- nally been given as $1 -a -year ' canes. honorary job to one of the et Under new Civil Defense mayor's important campaign contributors and civic work- or Fred < <: t ........ • Director Fox appointed PPo ted ....:...:............... ers. two months ago by Mayor Fred Hofheinz, a coordinated Fox, 47, a petroleum engi- : 4 plan to marshall local forces neer who built his own corn- ::,,, , ° r 4 1 . , has been drawn for the first pany around his patented in ! k g time to save lives of people ventions which have made a . directly affected by natural fortune, was a mainstay of � x ri ,,i disaster and potential acci- the Hofheinz campaign. :< dents instead of simply stock- B u t the ex- Marine who 3 ing the fallout shelters and grew up in the Heights who �.:::. waiting for "the bomb" to has served as a "people's lob- a fall. byist" and ad -hoc adviser for .4 , .':..... ::.a ,. The shift in civil defense ' the residents of the Micro - from an atomic war posture nesian Islands in the South FRED FOX to rescue and relief of dis_ Pacific where he once fought aster and accident victims is the Japanese in World War stance, the civil defense staff a symptom of the changing II, is unlikely to tackle a job has developed a string' of times and new ideas about in an honorary way. ham radio operators who can the role of civil defense. "We first had to define how call out a designated number When he took the job in and when civil defense is of civilian boats to help flood January, Fox inherited a half- called in to aid people," Fox victims leave their homes. empty, $1 million semi - secret said. "We enter the picture if The staff also keeps track of underground civil defense 500 or more people are poten- available experts in a variety bunker, meters beneath the tially in danger within a 72- of fields who can be called soil near the Albert Thomas hour period of time." into action. Convention Center. This should cover the res- Civil defense, however, is The bunker was built as an cue and evacuation of people still concerned with the possi- underground city government from disasters like a tank car bility of nuclear attack or ac- command post, complete with explosion, tornadoes and ma- cident, but a shift has oc- table for the mayor and city jor fires and floods but not, curred there, too. councilmen, a "warroom" for instance, enter into the "Realistically, there could and an elaborate commu- on -going work of the police be nothing we could do in nication center in case of at- and fire departments, Fox case of a direct attack. But in tack by hydrogen or atomic said. case of a nuclear shooting bombs. One of Fox's concerns is war breaking out between Its main • practical use was gearing civil defense to aid in neighboring countries, we still t'as a home for the city police case of disasters in the Port have to have the fallout shel- bomb squad and a work room of Houston, or among heavy ter program if the winds for architects and engineers. industry. come this way," Fox said. Dusting off the "Dr. Stange- To help coordinate civil de- He said there is also a ha- love" atmosphere, Fox now fense efforts with the port, tional concern about the pos- has the offices staffed with Fox said he may ask Hof- sibility of accidents from nu- c i v i 1 defense coordinators heinz and the City Council to clear materials and the dan- from the city fire and police give him a few deputies, at ger of homemade nuclear departments, an office for the $1 -a -year. bombs. Red Cross and lines of com- Fox said the main problem In case of national disaster munication with county ma- now in civil defense is to or insurrection, the - chain- of rine experts, the sheriff's of- "coodinate all efforts avail- command will come down fice, the port and radio ham able to put the right relief in from the President through operators. the right place at the right the mayor and then t� Fox's His staff has an inventory time." office. But for local disasters, of available relief equipment Too many volunteers can be F o x will go into action in the area, and dossiers of as bad as too few, he said. To through the mayor's office volunteer experts in chem- help direct evacuation, for in- directly.