PALMERSTON FIRE BRIGADE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9632, 5 October 1911, Page 7

PALMERSTON FIRE BRIGADE.

INSPECTOR HUGO'S REPORT.

MORE WATER PRESSURE WANTED,

[By Telegraph.]

(By Oor Pabliamentaby Repobteb.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 5. Reporting 1 upon -the Palmorston Fire Brigade, Inspector Hugo says the various drills, were carried out smartly and in a very oflicienj; manner. The strength of the Brigade is superintendent, deputy-superin-tendent and 25 firemen. This number includes two permanent officers and one permanent fireman. The p'ant and-ap-pliances are maintained in good order and condition, Tho following interim report was forwarded to the sccr°tary of the Board: "In my first report to your Board I made »ho recommendation that the horse hose reel cart should bo replaced by a hose and ladder motor oar. 1 understood, 6omo eighteen months ago, that it waa intended very shortly from that time to increase tho gravitation pressure to something like 130 lbs. This has not been done, and whatever the reason the present available pressure, an averago of 70 lb, is not sufficient for fire extinction purposes, and I have now to repeat tho lecommendation stated above, with tho addition that the car should be fitted with a fire pump so that with fires of any magnitude the brigade may be expected to deal with them with some measuro of success. In addition to tho foregoing recommendation I have to call the attention of ihe Board to tho recessity of installing a street fire alarm system throughout, tho town. During tho year ending 30th June, 1911, 33 fires have occurred in the Palmorston North lire district as against 36 for the previous year. Tho loss by fire amounted to £9765, compared with £21,535, a decrease of £11,770. Tho estimated cost of tho brigado for the year is £1699, as against £1504 for the past year, an increase of £195, of which increaso £9O is on account of overdraft from previous vear."

NEW ZEALAND'S BAD RECORD

Inspector Hugo, in his annual report under tlio Fire Brigades Act, returns again to the subject of the great amount of loss by fire in New Zealand.

"The United States of America lias been looked upon for very many years past as having tho heaviest fire loss of any country in the world, According to the New York Evening Post, February 4th, 1911, tho record lire loss in Europe is held by Russia, with an average of M 6 dol., say, 4s Bd, per capita; the average throughout Europe as a whole is 48 cents, say, 2s, per head' of population. The insurance loss in the United States for tho year ending December 31, 191G, is returned as amounting to dollars, at an exchange rate of 4.90 c»ollars, this is equivalent to £29,862,532. Arriving at; tho fire waste by the same process I have adopted for New Zealand—i.e., tho addition of 33g per centgives tho sum of £39,816,709, with a population approximating eighty millions; this is something under 10s per capita. With tho fire waste of tho Dominion for the same year amounting to £523,560, <'nd j tho population approximating ono million, gives an averago of over 10s per capita; so that, on tho foregoing lino of deduction, the verv unenviablo record of having tho largest tiro loss in the world is held by New Zealand, and this notwithstanding the verv substantial decrease of £101,147 in the fire waste when compared with that of the year ending December 31st, 1909. Although the question of this excessive loss has been prominently tofore the public several times during the lasfc two or three years, very little of any importance has been clone towards remedying tho evil,- Somo few boroughs have amended their by-laws in the direction of extending tho brick areas in tho town centres, and in somo measure improving their building regulations fnm a lire-protection point of view, but none have gone far enough, and there has been no general movement in this respect. Ono of tho resolutions passed at tho United Fire Brigades' Conference was that tho Government should bo asked to .frame a set of model building regulations, and provide for their compulsory adoption by local governing bodies "An inferenco to bo drawn from an analysis of the fire reports sent in from the various districts is that over or excessive insurance is still much in evidence, and the portion of an advertisement following, taken from a local paper recently, appears to bo on tho face of it ut case in point: 'Boardinghouso (the furnitui'o is insured for £500): Price for the lease and tlio whole of the and effects, including upright grand piano, £220.'" . ..

The inspector also repeats his previous warnings against the use of wax matches.