TIMARU FIRE BOARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume CV, Issue 160, 28 September 1916, Page 4

TIMARU FIRE BOARD.

... MONTHLY MEETING. I ■■• .".■ ~~ * .'■'.' The bi-monthly meeting of the Timaru Fire Board was held yesterday. Present—Messrs J. Wallace (chairman), H. Green, R. Orwin, F. J. Grierson, E. R. Guinness, and Col. C. J. Cooper. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT. The Chairman stated that at the last meeting of the Christ-church, Fire Board a letter was received from the Dun'edin Fire Board urging that single men of military age belonging to Fire Brigades should be exempt from enlistment. This opened up a big question, and while strong arguments had been adduced in favour of exemption he wa« of opinion that a percentage of Fire Brigade men should be exempt, but th«£ this should only apply to the ■large centres where a permanent staff was employed. On this question he had gathered . some- data from other Boards in England,' and France, and found that while some Boards had been successful in England in getting exemption, their action had been strongly criticised. In France there had been no departure from their original purpose, and all men of military age had to conform to the law. Thore was some justification for allowing exemption in some cases for, as had been pointed out firemen coidd not be trained in a short time, but required a long strenuous training. Bearing in mindthat it was single men who were the most eligible recruits it would be readily seen how heavily ' brigades were handicapped in obtaining suitable men at such a time as they were passing' through.- Sinc« the outbreak of the war. eleven men have joined the ■Colours from the Timaru Brigade out of a total of twenty members, showing conclusively that this brigade had responded nobly to the Empire's' call. It would be obvious that the Superintendent would have some difficulty in obtaining suitable men to keep the brigade up to, its requisite strength. From the' Superintendent's report they would see that _. several fires had occurred, none being of a serious nature. The Superintendent"' made-several recommendations. One in 'particular 1 should have the serious consideration of the Board. This was in regard to fire escapes.. The question should be fully considered whether- the Superintendent; of the Fire Brigade should, not be the proper person to inspect and report on the fire escapes in all hotels and boarding houses. With regard: to the ; electrical. current being cut off on Sundays, between.the hours of'; 7aim. and' 4 ■p.m. (thereby putting -the; fire boll'but of action)-this matter .had received-the . careful consideration of the Electrical Committee, when it was pointed out that owing to the small' revenue derived from Sunday users the' Committee ; could_ not recommend it; The figures supplied'-by the : electrical 1 engineer showed that the cost of running the power between the hours named would 1 involve- an - 18s .per annum, and the revenue'.'approxl '£36 6s. There _ was a probability that with the expansion of the town, an increased demand for current, and the additional power now taken in hand by the Council that, this defect to the system might be remedied in the near future. He had arranged for the storage of 'the Board's stock of petrol in the Borough Council's. garage iintil March" 31 next. A Roll of Honour had been; prepared'in connection with the members of the Brigade who had gone to the war, and this was nqw hanging in the fire station: ' ■ '"'■ ■ ■"''..' '.'.....-..•;:.? ;I ' l ' The matter of the enlistment of eligible men; inr the- brigade, was y discussed, and it was decided that the Chairman and Superintendent. should confer with a view to securing .'.-/ the services of men not eligible for the war to take the places of-., those,.who. niay leavc'to: go to the Front.' . : : ,. ■ The renewing the Board's insurances was left'; to the chairmanftiio settle by ba110t.... ■.'...,;,, -A;*;' It was decided the Timarii Harbour Board asking whether 1 tliey will agree to pay for the attendance' of the brigade for fires on ships,-and; on the wharves at the charge; set out in the bylaws. ." " : . "';:'. .'"'.'."■ '■

A motion was passed expressing appreciation of the device made by Motorman Nicholls tor automatically starting the fire engine and opening the doors of the station when, an alarm of fire is received. An electrical expert has suggested that the device should he patented.

SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT. The Superintendent reported that since last meeting the brigade tad attended six wet practices, and had also responded to six alarms of fire, none of which .were of ! : a serious nature. Eiremen Forrest and Hooke having enlisted, had left for the training .'camp with the 20th Reinforcements. This made eleven members of the brigade who had' enlisted. Three probationers had been elected since the previous meeting, namely Messrs J. Moore, J.Hewett and A. Leeder.' The last named .was acting as assistant motorman in .place of assistant motorman Forrest, who left with the 20th Reinforcement. The lire whicu occurred on Sunday, Sept. 17th, demonstrated three facts: First, that all chimneys should be inspected by the building inspector. The fire which occurred in the Girls' hostel, North Street demonstrated beyond all doubt that suificient caro was not taken in the construction' of chimneys. In this case two bricks were left out of the chimney to allow the pipe leading from the hot water tube to pass through to the system, and the space was not filled in. The only barrier against the fire escaping -was a i-inch lining board which evidently caught fire, and was conducting the fire right through the .building. If not promptly dealt with it would have resulted in the destruction of the building; (2) That all fire escapes shoud have exits through a corridor leading from the passage on a level with the floor, and with a door that would sway outwards or inwards, and the words "Fire escape" should be written on both sides. The fire escape ■ in question was like most other fire escapes in hotels and boarding-houses, where means of escape was through a. bedroom and over .a window-sill. If

the bedroom door was locked the fire escape was rendered useless. All_ fire escapes should have separate corridors leading, l to theescape, and should be constructed: under a competent inspector. '.(3)'.lt iras the custom on Sundays, between the hours of 7 a,m. and 4 p.m. to cut the ■ town power off from the electric ■.-power-house,' thereby throwing the fire alarln bell put of action. This considerably hampered the working of the-Brigade. He asked the Board to give, these matters .consideration. ..... The Brigade appliances were all in good working order, and were well looked after by the motorman. The selfstarter .-. and door-opener which the inotorman invented . was working splendidly, and had greatly minimised the risle of back firing while the engine was being, cranked. In response to an alarm of ;fire it also had proved of great value and assistance to the motorman, who had many duties-to perform before the engine could leave in response to an alarm of fire. . ..; It, was decided to ask for a full report; from the. Superintendent 'an the hostel in North Street, '• where the fire 'recently.-occurred, and fit was also decided that the Superintendent should make an inspection, of the fire escapes in hotels, ;and public institutions.' t ' ■ ; -.-ACCOUNTS.. \.--,",~ v . ....... Accounts to the amount of £136.9s Qd were passed for payment, and the meeting closed. .■•;;■---.--> -■-.■-■