SAFETY MEASURES IN FIRES

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 April 1937, Page 9

SAFETY MEASURES IN FIRES

L.C.C. HANDBOOK OF HINTS.

LONDON, March 1. Do you know the position of the street fire-alarm nearest to your ' h °lf C you do, and had occasion to use ; it, how would you break the glass. ; I How would you escape from a llreI surrounded bedroom? I Do you know the difference beI tween a reef knot and a “granny knot _ „ Do you realise the potential dangers of leaving lighted cigarette ends lying about, of cleaning clothes with petrol, or of entrusting your children with celluloid toys? The average person who reads a .threepenny booklet, “Fire Prevention Hints,” rpw issued by the L.C.C., will probably be astonished by his ignorance of these matters, which may be of vital importance in emergencies, j He may pr.otest at the advice. “Never search for an escape of gas with a naked light.” Yet it is a fact that accidents due to this incredible conduct still happen. “The value of a soda-water syphon Jor fire extinction purposes should not be overlooked. A well-dii ectcd jet of water under pressure may prove more effective than a bucket of water unskilfully applied,” it is stated. , Few people study the possible means of escape, apart, from the stairway, from a house in case of fire. Various suggestions are made in this booklet. i The. booklet shows by effective illustration how to make an improvised

■ rope of sheets, how to make a reef knot, and how Io avoid the often fatal •| '‘granny.'' ' It is suggested that a police whistle ■■ might be useful to attract Ute ateni lion of passers-by from the window. 11 'flic most effective way of calling a lire brigade is to pull the street IJ alarm. To break the glass, it is resi commended that the elbow—“if well covered’’ —or a shoe should be used. Over 1,00 fires are caused every ■ year in London by the careless dis- . posal of cigarette ends and matches. \ More surprising, perhaps, is the fact , | that about 100 fires are the result of the boiling over of fat in the kitchen. Eleven fires were due to electric-iron I switches being left on. 1 Commenting on the danger °f

cleaning clothes with petrol; the booklet records that a woman was severely injured by petrol catching lire, although she was 40 feet from the nearest naked light.