The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1891-10-07

&cOpio hSCUNu w OTCd4A AbouL
The Work That Firemen, Policemen.
Patrolmen and Adjusters Do.
After the fire is over, what then? The
average citizen sees only a 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
the details Of the work are manifold.
There are four bodies of men actively
concerned with the ruins.
First, the fremen. 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 nave to wait
nearly a week, and their work after the
fire 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 fremen 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
LAtS2C IIJJ i1L|I W VI lO1 -CIShL
hours necessarily, with only three hours
intervals for meals. At the great fire
that destroyed the H~avemeyer sugar re-
fnery it was more than g. week before
the ruins were cold enough to be safe.
Second, the police. They protect the
firemen 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 a fire line
about the burning building and keep it
up after it is burned till the work of the
fremen is done.
Third, the fire patrol. This is a pro-
fessional band Of property rescuers,
maintained by the insurance companies.
1t was organized forty years age, and
was then composed entirely Of members
of the volunteer fire department. In
1863 it was incorporated under a charter
which commissioned it to save lives and
property at fires. In the first place it
really was a patrol, walking about the
streets from 7:30 o'clock each evening
till 5:30 o'clock next morning looking
for fires. Now it is called to fires IN tbs
same way as the regular fire depart
ment. Its men used to wear the same
uniforms as the frenlen, bat there was 81
row over that and now they are Gistin.
guished by red stripes.
THE III 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, shOyels, cTowbars and
t~Wenty-fOur immense ~t&rpaulin cover
ings, with which the fire patrol rushes
into a building comparatively safe from
fire, but drenched with water, and covers
up the goods there. The patrolmen
usually work under the fremen. Fol
instance, If there is q 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 outO OF Z
the way Of water. s
They also follow the hose lines where :
these lines run through buildings not on ,
fire to stop all leaks in the hose or set ,
buckets under the leaks or protect goods
from spray. They cant tell till the fire
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 french and G
fix things up, saving all they can for the 6
insurance companies and stopping all 9
unnecessary damage. When the fire !
men and police nave gone away the fire {
patrol stays with the agents of the own +
er8, guarding the goods till the insur- .
ance is settled or the rescued property is 6
removed to a place of safety. =.
After all is said and done at the fire !;
fJ.NTnr M, &hD l..
pOking about the ruins. This is small, n
high priced body Of shrewd and expert +
enced men, whose business is to find out +
on behalf Of the insurance companies .
how much the loss was. An insurance q
adjuster, will always tell you that his is
q Judicial function, just as a district at
torney always contends that he is acting
judicially, though the prisoner may not ,
think so. The insured seldom agree I
with the insurance adjuster. He is sent :,
on behalf Of the insurance companies, =
and is on the watch for fraud. .
TIE ADJUSTEKs' WORK. Il
The serious work does not usually be- O
gin till the ashes are cold. Insurance s.
companies don't take inventories of the s
property insured nowadays. The con. f
N@-tS Va a. 90 - NSIIStolII4N IliCtl%IDO, a
They wait for the insured to make ont +,
bis claim IN itemized form. Then they ~
call for the books and the vouchers. i
all books and vouchers are burn ~
ed. In that case the memory of the 7,
owner must do its best to supply the de-
fciency.
Frauds are frequent, and the adiustcrs
are usually in business for Themselves CT
attached to any particular company, a
hired by the job, just like lawyers OF r.
detectives. They have TO keep pl
their eyes wide open. re
In cases like the Park place fire, where bt
everything becomes a heap Of ruins in an &,
instant, and no books or papers or ma al
.erial evidence Of any kind is left. the b
have to depend on careful |,
scrutiny of the itemized claims; but in w
numbers Of other cases where the fire de- in