TOO MANY FIRES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 443, 27 August 1928, Page 11

TOO MANY FIRES

N.Z.’S UNENVIABLE RECORD CHILDREN TO BE TAUGHT FIRE-PREVENTION “So long as we have commercial depression and unemployment we shall continue to have too many fires,” said Mr. T. J. Watts at the annual reunion of the Onehunga Fire Brigade on Saturday evening. Tlie United Fire Brigades’ Association, of which Mr. Watts is secretary, has been for years endeavouring to discover a workable scheme for teaching children fire prevention, he said. Mr. C. W. Malcolm, a school teacher of Paeroa, had drawn up a set of lessons. Mr. Malcolm's scheme had been approved and gazetted by the Director of Education, and would shortly come Into operation. , . . The by fire in Auckland lafet year was about £IIO,OOO, and in Wellington £89,000. The Dominion loss amounted to about £1,250,000, or 18s *-d a head of population. Mr. Watts took strong exception to the attitude adopted by the Undersecretary of the Post and Telegrapn Department in connection with the maintenance of fire-alarm systems, which comes within the department s province. When asked by a recent deputation of the Fire Brigades Association for some concessions, the under-secretary declined to meet them and stated that the department was out to commercialise itself. firemen will demand pay “Very well,” retorted Mr. Watts. “We shall commercialise fire brigades. The men will cease to be volunteers. They .will demand payment for their services.” Mr. Wilfred Skeg. chairman of the Underwriters’ Association, said that electric wires constituted a fruitful, though elusive, cause of fi.res, but a vast amount would be saved annually if only people exercised ordinary caution. Any saving thus effected would be equivalent to an increase in our exports. He advocated the systematic education of school children in fire prevention. He mentioned that on a capitation basis the United States had held the world’s record for fire losses until last year, since when New Zealand had taken the lead, the United States figures having fallen off by seven per cent. The chairman of the Onehunga Fire Board, Mr. W. C. Kemble, who presided, blamed the Government for curtailing the grants made toward travelling expenses of fire brigades when competing at Dominion demonstrations. “Fire brigades,” said Mr. Kemble, “save the country an enormous amount annually, and they deserve better treatment.” Among the other speakers were Sir Frederic Lang, M.L.C., Superintendent Garrett and Superintendent Gilbert, Messrs. H. J. Davies, J.P., T. H. Pardington and R. G. Speight. Mr. R. H. Gibbons was made an honorary life-member of the brigade and invested with the medal of that office. Long service medals were presented to Superintendent C. E. Gilbert, Deputy-Superintendent J. Downey, Firemen J. Grant, Muir, E. R. Gilbert and J. Salt. The St. John Ambulance Association presented first-aid certificates to Firemen J. Grant, Trevor Gilbert, E. R. Gilbert, G. E. Gilbert, Theodore Heigh - way, Roy M. Hutchison, P. P. Lardner, James Eastwood, E. J. Doherty and C S. Faulkner. Among the visitors were representatives from sthe Waihi, Paeroa. Thames, Cambridge. Auckland and Suburban Fire Brigades. A large gathering was entertained by musical ' items by Messrs. R. H. Gibbons, J. Gillies, F. Blamford, J. McMinn, B. Watson and C. Turner. Mr. W. Purcell acted as accompanist.