HUGE LOSSES

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 11, 13 July 1931, Page 7

HUGE LOSSES

"DON'TS" FOR ALL

FIRES IN THE STATES

INTERESTING BOOK

LESSONS FOR DOMINION

The United States is renowned for doing things on a grand scale. In tha matter of fires it has bigger and deadlier ones than most countries. A house burns every two minutes in tho United States, and 28 people die daily; from fires, three times as many in proportion to population as in Britain, The yearly loss per capita is about 13s in New York City, as against about 23 in London. Paris has about 6000 fires a year; Chicago, with about the Bsune population, has 20,000, and with a yearly loss by fire nearly equal to that of all Germany.

New Zealand, owing to the in* flammable character of its buildings, has an average yearly loss through fire of 16s 7d> per capita. Hence thff Dominion should be vitally interested. in anything that fire-fighting, chiefs in. the States have to say about fires and fire-fighting and fire risks. The assistant chief of the fire , department of SB»w York City, Mr. T. P. Dougherty, has, with Mr. P. W. Kearney, just published a book called "Fire," which is startling »nd vivid in its facts and comments. ■

. ■ The great fire losses experienced ia' the States are due partly, one learns,, to frame houses and shingle roofs. These enormously increase the "con» flagration hazard," which means, ig the American fireman's language, .» fire which spreads to other buildings Other encouragements to AinericsSi fires are the universal elevator-shaft* and stair-wells, ■ and hollow side-walls which form hidden vertical flues. Americans own their homes more than anyl other civilised nation, but the average American "would rather have a sunporch than a. fire-stopped cellar." Ho uses any political pull ho may hay» to evade building regulations made for his safety. Thirty-six per cent, of schools in the United States have 110 fire-extinguishers; and 'many of tho homes of the rich are perfect deathtraps; while, on tho other hand, in modern, tenement houses, although out breaks of fire are common, Mr. Dougheity knows of no life lost. He tells * painful story of the city of Berkeley, CaL, which, after a severe conflagration, passed an ordinance against shingle roofs, and then . rescinded it under pressure from, the lumber interests.

♦•imEPBOOr 1 ANQ "EYEWASH."!

The word "fireproof" is usually, eyewash; says Mr, Dougherty.- Nov building with combustible ■ contents can. be fireproof; at best it can" be fire-retarding. Kreproof shingles aro never fireproof after a year in sun' and rain; and steel columns, unless protected by four inches of concrete, actually collapse in a fire much' sooner, than wooden,'ones, especially if they; receive a stream, of water from a hose.' However, the average loss per fire in New York City has been reduced from. 1705 dollars in 1888 to 572 dollars in 1929, and this despite the new kinds o£, risk, such as film storage rooms, garages, dry-cleaning plant, and refrigerating plant. The latter, paradoxically, produces one of the worst kind* of fire: for ammonia gas necessitates enormous amounts of water to absorb it, and rubber clothes and self-contained helmets for men who have to work in • it. Fire-fighting yields many other, paradoxes; for instance, a large car-, pentry, shop on fire is more" dangerous than a drug store, owing to the explosive qualities of Wood-dust. It is also surprising, that the largest single cause of fires inNew York City as .still the bonfire or,'rubbish-fire. And one hardly expects a flood to start a fire; yet the great Augusta fire of 1908 was due to a river flood meeting a cellar of quick-lime. ■ •Naturally Mr. Dougherty's book is largely about his own ' admirablyequipped and highly trained, body of 6500 men (London has only 2000). One of. the tests for a New York fireman is to raise and lower a 35ft ladderin ten seconds; and they have 75ft aerial ladders, costing 12,000 dollars, which onaj man can raise; also, since 1908, a separate high-pressure water system, with. 4000 hydrants in 6000 acres, and salt* water mains for an emergency. Firealarms are so many and so. easily, worked that they have twenty-seven false alarms daily, besides odd calls. such as one by a woman who had forgotten her door-key, "one to a crazy) man with a gun, one to a eat up a tree, ono to five lions broken loose, and many to fallen scaffolds and railroad smashes. ; " ' \

But more valuable for the British? reader are the many bits of advice which are not local. If you must dp' your own dry-cleaning, use carbon; tetrachloride, not the perilous petrol (which Americans call ga'solpne). Ji. your clothes catch fire, screen mouth; and nose with hand; for inhaled flama kills as many victims as outside burs* If you wake in a' top-floor bedroo« and smell smoke, and the bedroom door feels warm, don't apt* it. Jf you do, you may be instantly killed fcfl breathing -hot air. Keep the dooj shut and lessen the* fire's chance (j| '.assuming "mushroom shape.'' 3?o^| the same reason, if your house has • stair-well, let your skylight have a fusible link that heat may open i* Keep a box of sand in the kitchen fo* grease fires. Test gaspipes for leak* i with soap-suds, not with a fiamm 'Don't(hang clothes on gas-fixtures uf the bathroom; it may turn, on the ga» If you have a fire-extinguisher in youj kitchen, are you,sure it is not rustefl tight? And has your wife ever worked it, or has the maid? If they have t«» sit down and read directions first, tae fire will probably survive the first (five minutes- of its life, the only tiniei

it is easily killed. The advice which Mr. Doughertyj repeats oftenest is to install, an auto» matic sprinkler in every basement, with precautions;.against freezing,"anA connected with an automatic alarm* He has not much faith in the outside; fire-escape; if many want to use it it is sure to be; blocked. He advocate!, instead a smoke-proof enclosed staiy.way^. But would not this get blocked tool ■ '