INEFFICIENT FIRE ESCAPES

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 137, 5 March 1940, Page 9

INEFFICIENT FIRE ESCAPES

Criticism Of Boarding Houses And Hotels NEED FOR SUPERVISION STRESSED The need for a (stricter supervision of the lire escape provisions in hotels and boarding houses was stressed by Mr. B. C. Robbins, M.L.C., at the annual meeting of tiie United Fire Brigades’ Association of New Zealand in I’etone yesterday. There had been too many fatal results from tires, and just recently there was a fatal accident in a Wellington hotel, whore a girl lost her life, and in the investigation it. was found that the window of the room she occupied was locked and nailed, said Mr. Robbins. A great deal of that, had taken place in many hotels and boarding houses They were not safe in any sense of the word for the people occupying them. He said the attention of the authorities should be called to the matter, which was very serious. So far as licensing committees were concerned they depended on reports from the police, but the reports of the police were directed not to the construction or safety of the premises, but to the manner in which they were conducted. Consequently licensing committees had little or no information as to how tiie buildings were constructed. “I have been round the country very considerably recently anti been in a. very large number of hotels, ami 1 have been astonished to see the inside construction of many.” said Mr. Robbins. “They have long narrow passages and the construct ion inside is of wood or wallboard, which is most inflammable. They should be compelled to provide safe buildings for the travelling public. 1 would like to bring the attention of the Inspector of Fire Brigades, Mr. Butcher, to the matter. I know lie will be as much concerned as any of us. AVc want to know that other parks of the community are doing their duty by providing constructions that are safe for people.” Major Difficulty. Mr. Butcher said that probably the major difficulty arose from the fact that the licensing legislation applied to licensed hotels only. There was no legislation covering private hotels, except local by-laws, which -were, generally speaking, very unsatisfactory. The case to which Mr. Robbins referred was a classic instance of the inefficiency of, internal fire escapes. The girl had access to an outside fire escape, but the window appeared to have been nailed and she tried to get along the passage into the next room to get out of the window. She did not get more than 15 feet before she collapsed. Stairways and passageways became full of hot gases, and it was simply impossible for any person, except a fireman, to penetrate that atmosphere. People became frightened and did silly things. There was no system, except the outside fire escape, which gave 100 per cent, protection. Mr. Butcher said that in his opinion some attention should be called to the problem. He said he was satisfied that a period could be given for places to be put in order, provided something was done every year. He said he thought it would be an excellent thing if the conference adopted a resolution directing public attention to the problem and the necessity for its alleviation. Mr. Robbins moved that it be an instruction to the incoming executive that it immediately consider the question of the better inspection of hotels and boarding houses in respect to those occupying them, and -that representations bo made to the Government for amendments to the act controlling the question. Mr. R. Henderson, seconding the motion, said that if the model by-laws prepared some time ago were brought into force they would cover the position. The motion was carried.