FIRE ESCAPES

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 28, 1 August 1940, Page 13

FIRE ESCAPES

BOARDING-HOUSES

IWELLINGTON GASES

LEGISLATION SOUGHT

"XX Fires whicK occurred in Wellington recently were referred to in the Legislative Council yesterday afternoon to give point to a claim that legislation was required to enforce Better fiTe escape facilities iri boarding establishments. The claim received general approval, but amazement was expressed by one speaker at the suggestion that fire boards and local bodies had no powers of control over buildings other than licensed houses.

The question was raised by the Hon. B.y C. Robbins (Auckland), who moved that the attention of the Government should be drawn to the remarks of the Superintendent of the Wellington Fire Brigade, (Mr. C. A. Woolley), published on July 19, regarding a fire in Boulcott Street, with ai View to stressing the importance of introducing legislation on the lines suggested by Mr. Woolley. ..'... DEPUTATION PREPARING. • The matter had been brought before the Wellington Fire Board, and the board had set up a committee to wait on the Wellington City Council to ask ior:a joint deputation to wait on the Minister concerned to ask for legislation. Unfortunately, the bylaws did not cover- such buildings, and the occupants were frequently subjected to risks, that should not be permitted. Not viery, long ago, Mr. Robbins • added, a fatal accident had occurred in:a private hotel in Wellington.: A member of ' the staff, had attempted- to •reach the fire escape by opening a window, but the window was nailfed shut and the imprisoned person; had died. The time had arrived when, such a matter should be investigated and put on a proper footing. .A,lack 'of proper fire escapes was a menace to public safety. Mr. Robbins paid a tribute to the services given by the firemen ,of the Dominion. Apart from the metropolitan areas, he said, these men were purely volunteers, and the risks they took-"-should not be: increased, because of inadequate precautionary measures. The Hon: T. Brindle seconded the motion, and said that he, as a member of the Wellington Fire Board and the .bylaws committee of the Wellington. City Council,* knew that the matter raised had caused a lot of anxiety. There were some places in Wellington that were almost death-traps, especially private boarding-houses,, and the council had been trying for years to get some" control over them. PLACES INSPECTED. - "I have been through some of them," said Mr. Brindle, "and have seen the conditions.- There is every appearance of danger. In one-place I saw seven or eight gas stoves in one room for the use of the tenants. The City Council has no power over them. "Ehe -Standards- Institute has been dealing : with this matter, and we may get something,from.them.regarding means oi avoiding danger to human life.* The- Hon*. *T.- F^-Doyle..(Southland) • said that hfe was" amazed % hear such . comments. When he was Mayor of . Bluff he had bylaws framed which gave the council the right to inspect all build_ngs; and private boardmg- * houses. That a city the size of Wellington had failed to get such bylaws appeared to him to be a sign of weakness on the part of the council, which had power to frame bylaws under the Municipal Corporations Act. Instead of using those powers they were trying to get legislation *to protect life in "these ramshackle old buildings in Wellington they call private hotels." It was not the duty of the Government, but the duty of the City Council. The Hon. ■E. R. Davis (Auckland) said, that he did not agree that it was not a Government matter. The Government should bringdown legislation -making such bylaws obligatory to all . parts of the Dominion. . The Bluff district ..must be a sort of model for the whole of the Dominion, the Hon. K. J. Archer (Canterbury) said. When he was living at Invercargill the licensed hotels at Bluff were not too well controlled. He hoped Mr. Doyle's remarks would not lead anyone to think that legislation was not necessary^ He knew there was real trouble about apartment houses and private houses let out in sections in Christchurch. MEN FOR BRIGADES. The tribute paid to volunteer fire brigades by Mr. Robbins was endorsed by the Hon. V. A. Ward (Wellington), who asked the Leader of.the Council (the Hon. D. Wilson), as Minister of Manpower, to consider replacing volunteer firemen who had gone on active service. Only youths were available at Heretaunga, he said. The Hon. J*. Cotter (Auckland) suggested that an Act holding municipali...ties responsible for any death or accident which occurred because pf inadequate safety equipment would lead to efficient bylaws being enforced.

The Hon. A: Burns (Auckland) said that the legislation suggested should apply, to all buildings above one storey.

The Hon. W. J. Rogers (Wanganui), speaking for the first time in the Council, said that there must be a weakness somewhere or this state of affairs would .not exist.

.' The experience of the Wellington City Council was not peculiar, said the Hon. T. Bloodworth., (Auckland) '. No city, council had the authority claimed by Mr. Doyle. A municipality might make, bylaws, but it had no power to enforce them.

The Leader of. the Council said that he would obtain air the facts and if legislation was required he would take the matter with the Government. The motion was carried.