HEAVY FIRE LOSSES

Taranaki Daily News, 27 October 1932, Page 9

HEAVY FIRE LOSSES

HIGHER TOTAL FOR YEAR.

RESULTS OF CARELESSNESS.

Nearly 50 per cent, of all fires in New Zealand arise from carelessness in connection with cooking and heating fires, while second in importance as a cause of fires is the carelessness of smokers, states the annual report of Mr. R. Girling Butcher, inspector of fire brigades, which was tabled in the House of Representatives. The Dominion’s fire loss in 1931 was £1262,094, compared with £1,139,691 in the previous, year. These figures are the total payments made by insurance plus the percentage for fire loss not covered by insurance. This percentage is based on returns of uninsured loss in fire board districts, and since the aainsured loss in areas not protected by fire brigades would certainly be higher, the figures represent a p/vnse.r vat tv e estimate of the Dominion s fire waste. . The figures for 1931 do not_ include any fire loss caused directly or indirectly by the Hawke’s Bay earthquake, but they do include an amount of approximately £lOO,OOO for fires which occurred in the district during the period following the earthquake, when the water supply and fire-fighting arrangements were not in operation.

Every year sees an increase in the number of fires ascribed to electricity in some form or other, three-fourths of them being due to electric irons, i adiators or other movable equipment. The increase in the number of electrical fires is accompanied by a corresponding decrease in fires due to accident with naked lights. In 1926, for instance, electrical fires and those from naked lights each represented approximately 10 per cent, of the total, while in 1930 the percentage had altered to 14 per cent, and 6 per cent, respectively. From 10 to 15 per cent, of fires are reported to be due to defective chimneys. This is one of the very , few causes of fire which cannot be 1 ' charged to the carelessness of the occupier of the building. The principal chimney defects causing fire are insufficient foundations, woodwork placed below the hearth or inset in the brickwork, insufficient brickwork between the back of the fireplace or the flue and the surrounding woodwork, mantelpiece carried . below the brickwork and the pargeting of flues omitted or badly carried out. Even when a chimney is otherwise well built, hazards may arise if poor mortar is used.

To show how serious the position is, the experience of one insurance company might be quoted. This firm employed an expert builder to examine chimneys in the Waikato district, and in all, 1236 buildings were inspected. A total of 208 chimneys were found defective, and of these about one-third

were classed as very dangerous and one-third as fairly dangerous. The records show that during the year 14 persons were actually burned to death, five succumbed to burns received at fires and one was killed by a fall while cutting off power from a burning building. In addition to these 20 fatal accidents, nearly 2000 persons received more or less serious injuries either from burns or from falls occurring during fires.