WASTAGE BY FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 109, 9 May 1923, Page 4

WASTAGE BY FIRE

Mr. F. G. Cray, in a letter to "The Post," published on Monday, directed attention to the great loss resulting from fire in this Dominion. Mr. Cray spoke strictly from the fire underwriting point of view, and he quoted Inspector Hugo as estimating the wastage in New Zealand to be fully £1,000,000 per annum. The Dominion, it appears, enjoys the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of loss by fire per capita of any other country in the world, viz., 14s 9d per head of population. The heaviest loss jn any year by fire in New Zealand was incurred in 1922. What is 1923 going to do in the way of records ? Experience has shown that as high as 90 per cent, of all fires are attributable to preventable causes, and of this high percentage 20 per cent, are fires caused by carelessness in the disposal of unextinguished matches and lighted cigarette ends; and 10 per cent, originate in rubbish heaps, especially of wet and greasy rags. It is useless to spend unlimited sums of money on the equipment and upkeep of fire brigades if the old adage, "prevention is better than cure," is neglected. Those who have studied the matter, as insurance companies have to do, have found that fire prevention in Wellington was greatly helped by the general clearing up conducted some months ago by the City Council. The functions of the fire insurance offices are to insure against fires, and the fewer of them there are the better for the companies; but there is a far more serious aspect of the case than the destruction of property, no matter whether it is deliberately effected for the sake of the money en insured property, or is due to carelessness or neglect: it is the loss of life- from preventable fires. Directly, insurance companies suffer I from conflagrations ; indirectly, the public pays for them, because the greater the hazard the greater the premium. Neither the Government nor local bodies should rest until the enormous fire loss of New Zealand is reduced to at least those of Great Britain and the United States, which are roughly one-third the loss per capita of this Dominion.