MODEM FIRE-FIGHTING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20172, 5 February 1929, Page 9

MODEM FIRE-FIGHTING

ATTACKING FROM INSIDE,, RECENT CASE AT REMUERAV REPLY TO CRITIC'S THEORIES* "If we have to fight a fire from thd outside you may take it the building >3 doomed," said Superintendent W. Im Wilson, of the Auckland Fire Brigade, yesterday. This statement was in discussing a bystander's suggestion that the loss involved in a recent firo at 3 house in Remuera would have been mini* mised had the firemen broken through the roof and fought the outbreak from the outside, instead of -taking -the hose into tho house and playing the water on to the flames frdm an aperture they Lad made in the ceiling. "The modern practice and the besti practice is to get inside thu building to where the firemen can see what they, are doing," Superintendent Wilson continued. "Tho policy is to fight the lira scientifically,' not to cause damage, bub to minimise it. I admit this robs the fight of some of its spectacular aspects, but our job is not to provide thrills but to put the firo out with all possible speed and the least possible damage."

The Remuera fire was in a large wooden house, and the flames from 4 painter's blowlamp crept up tho wall between the lining and tho weatherboards into the roof. The firemen took a hose into a room, and after cutting a hole in the ceiling attacked the outbreak from that position. For a few minutes while they were working inside, the hose was allowed to play through;the window; on to the lawn outside.

Cutting Hole in Roof. "That fire was described as a 'good save,' but I fail to see how that caa be claimed," said the complaining bystander to the Herald yesterday!. "The fire was in the roof, and had the firemen cut a holo there and played the water down on to the flames the loss would have been only a quarter of what it was." "I saw that fire, and so did Inspector; Hugo, inspector of fire brigades in New Zealand, and we both agreed the men $ went about -iheir work in the proper manner and did effect a very good save," Superintendent Wilson said when the complaint was referred to him. "To make that fire a really good blaze, and perhaps cause the destruction of the whole of the building and its contents, all it wanted was a draught, and that would have been provided by cutting a hole in the roof..

"A man cannot hold on tcf a gabled roof with a heavy hose in action and cut a hole through the iron or slate. The smoke and hot air are under pressure beneath the roof, and once a hole is made the flames would be well away before the water could, be brought to bear.

Minimising the Damage. "Another point is that the fire was in the roof. No damage had been done to the rooms or furniture below, but they woijld have been considerably misused had the firemen done what the average layman seems to expect, namely, direct three or four leads from the outside and wash the flames out. By working from the inside the men could direct the water on to the fire; they did not let it poui; down the walls into the other rooms* The roof might burst while they are doing that, ibut by that time they would would have a hold on he fire."

The lengths to which the firemen will go in order to minimise the loss caused by water were emphasised when Superintendent Wilson drew attention to the equipment of the engines and its uses* There were canvas buckets, and a handpump with a small length of rubber hose. "We used those a little while ago at a fire in Ladies' Milo, and I ruppose there were some people there who wondered wliat on earth the firemen were doing carrying little buckets of water up the ladder," Mr. Wilson said; "In.that case there were a few small flames in the roof. They could have been put out very quickly by directing a lead of hose on to them, but the water would have run down into the rooms and on to the undamaged furniture below. The hand-pump dealt with them expeditiously and economically." Outbreak la Grain Store. Also in the plant were first-aid appar« atus for dealing with fires in their early stages, and a reduction hose with a small adjustable nozzle. This hose could be attached to a lead, and the flow of water regulated by tho man at the nozzle. "I know a number of people wondered what we were doing when we' stood outside a grain and seed store watching it bum," Superintendent Wilson added in further emphasis o? the fact that the brigade's function is to save and not causa unnecessary damage. "That fire was in the eaves, and "the men on tho spot did nothing for some minutes. As a matter of fact, I smoked a cigarette on the kerb alongside the owner of the building, but I do not know what he thought of oni; apparent apathy. We were not neglectful* In the store thero were vast quantities o£ seed, somo of it being worth up to five shillings a. pound. "As soon as I located the seat of ths ! f ire and ascertained the nature of the contents of tho building, I sent to the station for salvage sheets, and when they; arrived we spread them over the seed and then turned the water on. Perhaps i.IOO damage was caused to the building while ,ve waited, but had tho leads been brought) into action immediately tho damage could easilv have run into thousands. As it was, the sheets caught any dripping water and the seed wassaved." The Volume of Water. "We hear a lot about the pressure of. water," Mr. Wilson remarked. . "Pressure is not our worry. What we want is volume: wo can get the pressure, if we want it, through our own pumps. We should be able to attack a fire from east, north, south and west, and to do that we must have four leads. But four leads cannot be obtained from a 4in. main, such as is down in some parts. They can be got if only half-inch nozzles aro used, but tho volume of water from them is oi|lv one-quarter of that, from the full-siat) inch nozzle which will deliver 183 gallons or 30 cubic feet a minute, 'lo put anything less into a big fire would only mean that the oxygen in tho water would feed the flames." . ' .