Danger of build-up of rubbish fires

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32848, 23 February 1972, Page 18

Danger of build-up of rubbish fires

On Sunday, December 16, the hottest day last year, the Christchurch Fire Brigade was called on to deal with so many rubbish and scrub fires that it would not have been able to attend promptly or efficiently to a major property fire had one broken out, the Chief Fire Officer (Mr F. A. Hardy) reported to the Christchurch Metropolitan Fire Board yesterday.

At 4 p.m. that day, with a strong north-west wind, the brigade had machines at seven fires—including

two foreshore fires and one other rubbish fire at New Brighton, Mr Hardy said.

The situation was so critical—“we had utterly exhausted men and machines available for instant call at that time” —he had taken the liberty of calling on the N.Z.B.C. to broadcast a request that all rubbish fires in the Christchurch district be put out by those who had lit them.

Mr Hardv said he had been trying to get in touch with various local-authority officers in the area to get their permission for such a move, but had been unable in most instances to find anyone qualified to give the permission for the request to be made. ACTION APPROVED

The board, after formally approving the action taken by Mr Hardy, resolved that the local authorities in the board’s area be asked to set up a means by which authority could be given the Chief Fire Officer to order the putting out of all rubbish fires in hazardous circumstances.

Board members pointed out that this might require a new by-law, but were convinced that it was necessary. The chairman (Mr N. G. Pickering) said that in North Shore (Auckland) a by-law banned the lighting of all rubbish fires at all times, which reduced the hazard to property and also reduced pollution.

Mr Hardy, in his report on fire calls last year, said that

the number of rubbish and grass fires had increased by 14.5 per cent over the previous year. In many instances, such fires had spread to cause damage to property. It was obvious that the com-mon-sense precaution of having a garden hose ready to extinguish garden fires which got out of control was not being taken—particularly in November and December, when strong winds sprang up. PROPERTY FIRES Mr Hardy reported that fires in standing property had increased at alarming rates over the years—734 in 19 39, 831 in 1970, 864 in 1971. That was where fire losses were incurred. There had been only one large fire in 1971, at Fleming’s flour mill, comparey with 11 such outbreaks in 1970. However, although the number of major fires had been dramatically reduced last year, it was unlikely that the fire loss would be less than in 1970.

Total fires last year had increased from 1535 to 1691, or an increase of 9.3 per cent over 1970. It was unfortunate that the decline secured in the number of false alarm calls last year had been overbalanced by the total number of fires. “There is a need for greater education of th-' public, the promotion of a greater awareness of the danger and damage caused by fire,-and the need for a very much accelerated fire-prevention programme,” Mr Hardy said. FALSE ALARMS

He reported that total false alarms last year had been reduced by H.B per cent. The number of malicious false alarms had been 38.3 per cent fewer than the number in 1970, a reduction entirely achieved by the planned removal of street fire-alarm boxes from residential streets where the distribution of private telephones was more than 70 per cent.