WASTE BY FIRE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 140, 13 June 1912, Page 6

WASTE BY FIRE

Wellington city, in common with other cities and towns of New Zealand, contiAues ito help this country to maintain thxs world's record of fire waste — a staggering average of 10s per head of population. For a period of seven years ended last year tho waste in tho Dominion by fiiv amounted' to nearly £4,000,000, and. this ' estimate, given by In;>peek>t i Hugo, did not, apparently, i^dud© tho cobt of lite-lighting bj£ brigi^cka ftttd otiiuixii^.. For

the year ended 31*t March laet, the Wellington Brigade was called out 278 times, and on 29 occasions a stupid, mischievous, or malicious "false alarm" was the cause. Tho "false alarms" totalled 82, including some given by per,sons who believed honestly that where there was much smoke- — possibly a heavy cloud from tho Powor Station — ther© must be come fire, bub a comparison frith last year's total, 44, gives strong presumptive evidence that most' of these alarms, involving a considerable waste of public money, apart the fact that an actual fire may occur while the brigade is responding to a fool's invitation, were given by fatuous practical jokers. It is veiy difficult to catch and convict such culprits, but when on offence is proved against a "false alarmer." he should receive a real alarm by a memorable punishment. It will indeed be deplorable if the city has to suffer such a nuisance as one false alarm out of three calls (the proportion for the year was nearly 30 per cent.). "Actual fires" (excluding rubbish flares and chimney blazes) show a decline from 156 to 143, but one has to hesitate about expressing much satisfaction with the decrease in number till comparative figures , of the loss are available. The report of Superintendent Tait indicates that the fire-fighting equipment and stafl are still on a scale to excite the envy of other centres, but unfortunately too large a proportion of citizens imagine that a good brigade should have plenty of exercise—not at "dummy" practice, but the teal thing. The careless use of matches and candles again figures largely in the summary of causes. By the eaay process of throwing down a match-^generally a wax one— twenty-seven buildings were set on fire, and the candle erring among curtains or other highly inflammable material started destructive fires in thirteen houses. Last year the same i*ad story had to be told. "Matches thrown down" brought the brigade to twentythree burning buildings. Also, for the 1910-11 period the candle was blamod for thirteen fires, and the Superintendent said: "He careful in the use of candles." This year's report ehovrs that he spoke in vain. Habit* ot carelessness and recklessness have got ingrained into a very large number of people, and one knows not how they are to be changed for the better, except by suffering for their own folly. Unfortunately, it frequently happens that the persons who cause fires suffer less than other people. It is Inspector Hugo's belief, as recorded in his report to Parliament last year, that some of these persons are purposely careless in the hope of a profit from over-insurance. It is well to again remind the publio about New Zealand's glaring pre-emin-ence in fire waste. The American rato is second to New Zealand's, but the United States are still below 10s, and vigorous efforts are being made there to reduce the rate by a thorough education of the public to a sense of the national folly of such a large incubus. Here ia one of the factors in the cost of living. Tho fire loss for the -whole of Europe is at the rate of only 2s a year per head. It is true that European cities have advantages in the preponderance of buildings comparatively fire-proof and in firefighting equipment, but, better than this, they have a strong publio opinion against the "fire fifcnd." We have already explained that the person blamed for a fire in, say, a city of Franco or Germany has no comfortable time. The authorities see to that, and neighbours finish the work, because , a fire is regarded as a serious offence against public peace and safety. In New Zealand public opinion ifl lax, and nothing much ia done to improve it, except in the reports of special officers and in the press. One valuable aid would be by rigorous enquiry into the causes of. fires. Usually there is no public investigation unless a, fatality has occurred, or sufficient "euspicious circumstances" havo been noted by the police to induce a Magistrate to order an enquiry. The law is far from satisfactory in this regard. In hie report last year, Inspector Hugo remarked that a deduction to be drawn from an analysis of I»he fire reports sent in from tho various districts was that* excessive insurance was still much in evidence. Thie note may specially apply to furniture, regarding which the companies may not bo able to so securely protect themselves as in the caee of buildings. For example, goods worth £500 may be insured for £350, and the insurer may find a way of reducing the stock much below £350 before ,he has a fire. Systematic enquiries would surely help to check such criminal attempts to make a profit out of fires.