On August 2, 1942, Seattle staged a city-wide air raid drill to test its wartime emergency preparedness. Sirens wailed and army and navy planes roared low over the city as 58,000 civil defense workers handled traffic, dealt with imaginary fires, gave first aid and evacuated people from areas where bombs had supposedly landed. During the drill one theoretical bomb landed in the University District and another in Madrona.

In this photo, taken in the Madrona district in August 1942, men and women air raid wardens in helmets and gas masks run through the smoke during Seattle's city-wide air raid drill. On the same day, similar drills took place all over King County.

Handwritten on negative: Madrona wardens.
Handwritten on sleeve: World War II - Seattle - air raids - drill (drill).
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): August 2, 1942.