The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1891-10-07
AFTER ALL BIG FIRES.
MEN WHO NAY BE SEEN IN THE
RUINS or A coNFLAGRATIoN.

RUINS Or OONF N0on7 tcit'
strange Things Happen That Ordinary I,
People WoaId Never Dream About
The work That Firemen. Policemens
PatroImen and Adjusters Do
After the fire is over. what then; The
average citizen sees only heap Of smok-
ing ruins and thinks thai nothing re-
mains 70 bedone but to clear them away
and build anew. But TO the initiated
the details of the work are manifold
There are four bodies Of men actively
concerned with the ruins
First. the firemen. They distrust the
red dragon. BE may be lurking under
any.of the heaps Of bricks, ready for a
fresh outbreak. So they do what they
-all overhauling. They turn over all
the smoking piles and drench the embers
and wet down the neighboring walls
and remain on guard until everything Is
,oid. Sometimes they have to wait
nearly a week, and their work after the
ire Is very labcrious, as in the PARK
place fire, where so many lives were lost.
Three days after the fire was over
there were still fifty firemen at work on
the ruins getting out. the bodies and
watching the place TO make sure that no
flames would start up again. Many OF
these fifty men worked for forty-eight
hours incessantly. with only three hours
intervals for meals. At the great fire
that destroyed the Havemeyer sugar re-
=. ~t.nv, rr-asatr ha+rIrs,
the ruins were cold enough TO be safe.
Second. the police. They protect the
6remen from the crowds Of citizens who
come TO look on and the property res
cued from the rabble who come TO loot.
They draw what is called fire line
about the burning building and keep it
up after it Is burned I'LL the work Of the
fremen Is done.
Third, the fire patrol. This is pro-
fessional band Of property rescuers,
maintained by the insurance companies.
II was organized forty years ago, and
was then composed entirely Of members
of the volunteer fire department. In
1868 IT was incorporated under charter
which commissioned ID TO save lives and
property at fires. In the first place It
reallyswas a patrol, walking about the
streets from 7:30 o'clock each evening
til $50 O'clock next morning looking
for fires. Now it is called TO fires in the
same way as the regular fire depart
ment. Its men used TO wear the same
uniforms as the firemen, but there was
row over that and now they are distin-
| guished bv red stripes
THE FIRE PATROL
The men of the fire patrol go out with
trucks. one truck from each station
Each truck carries eleven men and axes,
ladders, brooms, shovels, crowbars and
| t1wenty-four immense tarpaulin cover
ings. with which the fire patrol rushes
into building comparatively safe from
] fire. but drenched with water, and covers
up the goods there. The patrolmen
usually work under the firemen. For
instance, if there is fire on the fourth
floor they are busy on the third floor and
the floors below covering up goods with
the tarpaulins and removing them Out OF
the way of water.
They also follow the hose lines where
these lines run through buildings not on
FIRE 10 stop all leaks in the hose or set
buckets under the leaks or protect goods
from spray They can't tel TIL the tlre
is over whether the property they are
saving is insured or not; therefore they
go ahead without paying any attention
to the question.
The fire patrol follow the fremen and
fix things mp, saving all they can for the
insurance companies and stopping all
unnecessary damage. When the FIRE
men and police have gone away the ire
patrol STAYS with the agents Of the own
ers, guarding the goods till the insur-
ance is settled or the rescued property is
removed to place of safety.
After all is said and done a. the fire
proper. come the insurance adjusters
polzing about the ruins. This is small,
high priced body of shrewd and expert
enced men, whose business is 10 find out
on behalf Of the insurance companies
how much the loss was. An insurance
adjuster win always tell you that his is
a judicial function, Just as district at
torney always contends that he is acting
judicially, though the prisoner may not
/ 81 Inc
with the insurance adjuster. he is sent
on behalf of the insurance companies,
and is on the watch for fraud.
THE ADJUsTERs' WORK.
The serious work does not usually be-
gin till the ashes are cold. Insurance
companies don't take inventories of the
property insured nowadays. The con-
tents Of a store are constantly changing.
They wait for the insured to make out
his claim in itemized form. Then they
call for the books and the vouchers.
Maybe al books and vouchers are burn
ed. In that case the memory Of the
owner must do its best TO supply the de-
fciency.
Frauds are frequent. and the adjusters
are usually in business for tnemselves-
not attached 10 any particular company,
but hired by the job. just like lawyers or
private detectives. They have to keep
their eyes wide open.
In cases like the Park place fire, where
everything becomes a heap Of ruins in an
instant. and no books or papers or ma
terial evidence Of any kind is left, the
adjusters have TO depend on careful
scrutiny of the itemized claims; but in
numbers of other cases where the fire de-
| partment does its work rapidly the ad-
justers make most astonishing finds.