The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-09-26
AFTER ALL BIG FIRES.
MEN WHO MAY BE SEEN IN THE
RUINS OF A CONFEDERATION

Strange Things Happen That Ordinary
People Would Never Dream About.
The Work That Firemen. Policemen.
PatroImen and Adjusters Do.
After the fire is over, what thenp The
average citizen sees only heap of smok-
ing ruins and thinks that nothing re-
mains to be done but to clear them away
and build anew But to the initiated
There are four bodies of men actively
concerned with the ruins.
First. the firemen. They distrust the
red dragon. He may be lurking under
any of the heaps of bricks. ready for a
fresh outbreak. So they do what they
call 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
cold Sometimes they have to wait
nearly q week. and their work after the
IRE is very laborious. 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 necessarily. with only three hours
intervals for meals. At the great fire
that destroyed the Havemeyer sugar re-
fnery ii was more than a week before
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
MP after it is burned till the work of the
firemen is done.
Third, the fire patrol This is a pro-
fessionai band Of property rescuers,
maintained by the insurance companies.
1t was organized forty years ago, and
was then composed entirely of members
Of the volunteer fire department. In
1853 it was incorporated under charter
which commissioned it to save lives and
property at fires. In the first place il
really was a patrol. walking about the
streets from 1880 o'clock each evening
till $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 tiremen. but there was 8
row over that and now they are distin
: guished by red stripes
TIKI 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
twenty-four immense tarpaulin cover
ings. with which the fire patrol rushet
into building comparatively safe from
FIRE. bat drenched with water. and covers
mp the goods there. The patrolmer
usually work under the fremen. Fol
instance. il there is fire on the fourth
floor they are busy on the third floor anC
the floors below covering up goods with
the tarpaulins and removing them out Of
tho way of water.
They also follow the hose lines where
these lines run through buildings not or
ire to stop all leaks in the hose or sol
buckets under the leaks or protect goods
from spray. They can't tell till the fire
II over whether the property they are
saving is insured or not. therefore they
20 ahead without paying any attention
10 the question
The fire patrol follow the firemen ani
Ak things up. saving all they can for the
insurance companies amt stopping al
unnecessary damage When the fire
men and police have gone away the fir
patrol stays with the agents OF the own
era. guarding the goods till the insur
ance ID settled or the rescued property 4
removed to place OF safety
After all Is said and done at the fr'
proper. come the insurance adJuster
ppking about the ruins. This is smsil