Fire Heroism, Climb against Bias Recalled

Biographical article about Cecil Daniel, retired battalion chief with the Kansas City Fire Department. Daniel's life is stated to be in some ways a story of the growth of the Kansas City Fire Department because of its parallels with how racial bias evolved over the years with the entire department. When he started with the department in 1941, there were only ten other African American firefighters and they were in the Negro company No. 11, in the station at 2033 Vine Street. Cecil Daniel was the brother of Raymond Daniel, the first black fire chief of the Kansas City Fire Department.