FIGHTING OF FIRES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21252, 4 August 1932, Page 10

FIGHTING OF FIRES

METROPOLITAN SCHEME REJECTION BY MOUNT EDEN A QUESTION OF COSTS The proposal to form a metropolitan firo board iri Auckland was rejected by the Mount Eden Borough Council at a special meeting yesterday, after tho inspector of fire brigades, Mr. R. Girling Butcher, bad explained tho scheme. Mr. Butcher said control by a local board was moro expensive that by the district local body, as a fire board insisted on a higher standard of efficiency. On inspecting tho Mount Eden plant ■with tho superintendent of tho city brigade, Mr. W. L. Wilson, ho had found that one machine was out of commission. Thero were two permanent men, while tho auxiliaries were not required to l>e in tho station between 5 p.m. and their sleeping hour, which was not fixed. It was possible that only one man might bo in tho station at that time, while there were usually two men on duty in tho daytime.

"You have a brigade liero which is not efficient on the personnel side," continued Mr. Butcher, who said the machine had no pump, while the pressure of water in the district did not exceed 601b. and the flow at dead ends of the mains was not more than 120 gallons a minute. Fire Board Requirements Under a, fire board a staff would be required at the station at all times. Ihere were two chief fire periods, after 5 p.m., and from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., and it was necessary to have men who could handle equipment in the dark. Under a fire board Mount Eden would need to have three men at the station and seven auxiliaries on a paid basis, while a pump would be required. Mr. Batcher then quoted the cost of fire boards in areas comparable to Mount Eden in population and value, ranging from £3OOO a year at Hamilton to £1785 at Onehunga, If insurance companies paid half the cost under a board, they would insist on efficiency. He estimated that the cost of a separate board would be over £2OOO a year, which meant that the bor-

ough would get efficient protection for £llOO a year. Mr. W. H. Nagle said from his figures it appeared that the metropolitan scheme would cost the borough £1278 a year, while the cost with its own fire board would be £672 a year, or if expenditure on improvements advocated by Mr. Butcher wero included, £972 a year. Mr. 1». J. Mills, a member of'the new Mount Eden Firo Board, said that lie did not think three permanent men would be required. There was only one at Onehunga and at Mount Roskill. Allocation o! Cost Mr. F. S. Battlev said lie was in favour of a metropolitan scheme, but not of tho method of allocating the cost. The borough was a settled residential area with no factory risk like that in the city. If greater efficiency in fire-fighting were given by the formation of a metropolitan board, ratepayers should enjoy the benefit of lower insurance premiums. Mr. Butcher replied that he could not touch that aspect of the matter. Although the present running cost of the brigade was only £BOO, it could not be anticipated that this would continue, as a separate fire board might make any expenditure. "It seems to me that itJs a question of costs against efficiency," he concluded. After Mr. Nagle had stated that he was in favour of giving the new local board a trial, and did not wish to see fire-con-trol pass out of the borough, Mr. S. E. Chappell and Mr. J. J. Mulvihill said the council had been pledged to reduce costs. . In moving that tha council was not in favour of the present proposal, Mr. Nagle said it would at any time consider alternative schemes.