#hubie kerns

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Burt Ward as Robin and Adam West as Batman and their stunt doubles, Victor Paul and Hubie Kerns - Batman (1966)

[papermoonloveslucy]

GREAT BALL OF FIRE!

Lucille Ball and the Fire Department

Where there’s smoke - there’s Lucy!  Lucy’s encounters with the fire department are legendary - even becoming a volunteer firefighter on “The Lucy Show.” 

“I Love Lucy��� wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of the Los Angeles Fire Department, who helped bring the studio up to code for filming when live audiences were introduced to the mix. Previously, audiences were not permitted on film sets due to fire codes. Ironically, the show’s sponsor was a cigarette company, at a time when smoking indoors was commonplace. 

In “Be A Pal” (1951), Lucy sets fire to Ricky’s newspaper to get his attention! Considering all the trouble and cost Desi had to assure the studio audience’s safety for the Los Angels Fire Department, it is amazing this gag was allowed!

“Fred and Ethel Fight” (1952) ~ When Fred and Ethel patch things up, Lucy and Ricky start feuding, leading to Lucy to pretend to be hit by a bus and Ricky to stage a fire in the apartment to test each other’s affection. Ricky and Fred use a toy siren and a beekeepers smoker to convince Lucy the building’s ablaze. 

Moments from the episode, including the aftermath of the ‘fire’ were recreated for the 2021 film Being the Ricardos. 

In “The Marriage License” (1953), one of the many hats worn by Mr. Willoughby (Irving Bacon) is fireman, presumably of the Connecticut town of Greenwich where the scene is set. Mr. Willoughby mistakes Lucy’s red hair for the flames of a fire. His helmet says “Engine 1″. 

In "Too Many Crooks" (1953), suspecting Lucy to be Madam X, Fred and Ethel spy on her from the fire escape. Fire escapes were common features of New York City apartment buildings, a series of metal ladders allowing residents to get out of the building in case of a fire. They were most famously represented in the musical West Side Story.

A running plot point of the first season of “The Lucy Show” (1963) has Lucy and Viv recruiting their friends to serve as the Danfield Volunteer Fire Department. Naturally, Lucy serves as Captain. 

Six weeks earlier, in “Lucy Puts Up a TV Antenna” (1962), two firemen help Lucy and Viv off the roof when their DIY installation of a TV aerial goes wrong. Chuck Roberson and Hubie Kerns play the firemen. 

Lucy is dismayed that nearby towns have a fire department, while Danfield has none. In “Lucy and Viv are Volunteer Fireman” (1963), the first episode to begin the plotline, Lucy writes to her congressman about the situation.

Dear Senator Dodds;

I feel it is my duty to point out an alarming situation which exists here in Danfield. Because of re-zoning in the county our fire department has been transferred to Ridgebury many, many miles away. As a result, in case of a fire, defenseless women and little children will be left helpless to face a flaming inferno. Until this outrageous condition is rectified, the least you can do for Danfield is to create a volunteer fire department.  

Yours very truly,

Lucille Carmichael

PS: I plan to vote for you in the next election. That is, if the polling place hasn’t burned down.  

In response to their letter, they are visited by Captain Metcalf (Patrick McVey) of the Ridgebury Fired Department. 

Jerry and Sherman are appointed Junior Firemen. This is a real-life program for youth run by most American and British fire departments to encourage home safety in fire prevention. Talking about the potential for a fire, Lucy says she doesn’t want to be known as one of the “Last of the Red Hot Mamas.”

The episode uses a fire pole and a Moreland fire truck. Both are employed for comic effect. 

Lucy and Viv rehearse putting on their fire fighter uniforms, calmly timing themselves as they do. When a real fire alarm sounds, the moment is comically chaotic. 

When Metcalf is training the women at the old firehouse, there is a Smokey Bear Forest Fire Prevention poster behind him. This particular design was first issued in 1953.

Captain Metcalf claims that the reason the Danfield volunteer fire brigade will consist of all females is because so many men commute to New York, further reinforcing that fictional Danfield is a bedroom community of Manhattan.

In connection with this episode, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance were made honorary fire chiefs of the Los Angeles Fire Department. They were photographed wearing official white helmets with Henri O'Bryant, vice president of the Fire Commission, Fred Kline, commission president, and LA Fire Chief William L. Miller.  

Because the episode was shot out of order, the fire fighter plotline is not mentioned in the next two episodes, but resumes in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (1962). Since all the members of the group are members of the Danfield Volunteer Fire Brigade, the quartet is named The Four Alarms. 

Again, the storyline is put on the back burner for two episodes, until “Lucy Drives a Dump Truck” (1963). After promising the Volunteer Fire Department that the town council will pay for their new uniforms, the girls find that they will be stuck for the cost themselves. They want to relieve Lucy as captain, until she comes up with the idea of selling newspapers for salvage. 

In addition to Lucy and Viv, the members of the Danfield Volunteer Fire Department are: Thelma Green (Carole Cook), Audrey Simmons (Mary Jane Croft), Dorothy Boyer (Ruth Crews, later Dorothy Konrad), Babette Edwards (Karen Norris), Frances (Mary Wickes), Colleen (Renita Reachi), Pauline Lopus, Grace, as well as background performers Bess Flowers and Hazel Pierce.

The next time we hear about the volunteer fire department, the show is being filmed (but not initially aired) in color!  “Lucy Plays Cleopatra” (1963). The women recruite acting coach Professor Gitterman (Hans Conried) to help them stage the production. 

“Lucy and Viv Play Softball” (1963) ~ Lucy and Viv are usually bench warmers when the Danfield Volunteer Fire Department plays softball, but a member’s preganancy lands them on the field. 

"Lucy Puts Out a Fire at the Bank” (1963) ~ When the town council refuses to fund the Danfield Volunteer Fire Department, Lucy takes her brigade for some training to impress Mr. Mooney, then sets a small fire at the bank to demonstrate their worth!  Mr. Mooney wants Danfield to be served by New Rochelle's Fire Department. In previous episodes they were served by Ridgebury.  

The Danfield Volunteer Fire Department has a service record of:

43 cat rescues; 12 of them of the same cat. 

8 clogged up chimney flues unclogged.  

16 piles of burning leaves were extinguished.

1 lawsuit against the city for water damage at the Armenian restaurant for an incident surrounding flaming shish-kabob on a sword.

Their training is led by Captain Burke (Alan Hale Jr.).  This is the final episode of the fire brigade plotline, ending a year after it is introduced. 

In “Lucy the Coin Collector” (1964), Lucy and Viv stand on the street in front of a bright yellow fire hydrant. Along with the mailbox, the fire hydrant was a standard set dressing for scenes taking place on city streets. 

In “Lucy the Disc Jockey” (1965), the last episode set in Danfield, Lucy uses a fire extinguisher when the control board explodes. The radio station is covered in foam for the rest of the episode. The moment was included in the show’s opening montage. 

“Lucy Makes a Few Extra Dollars” (1971) ~ Lucy Carter breaks out a fire extinguisher when Harry sets a fire in the office waste basket. 

Larry J. Blake plays the fireman who comes to extinguish the trash can blaze. 

“Lucy’s Punctured Romance” (1972) ~ Lucy burns the roast causing the fire department to smash the front door glass. Larry J. Blake returns as the Fire Cheif (wearing the same uniform), joined by Orwin C. Harvey and Sid Gould.