Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-05-22
IN A FIRE.
A Veteran Fireman's Advice on . Burning
Question.

Felt factory IRE horrors sum icSh ~
the minds of the general public. the
following advice from veteran nre-
man for the government of those
caught in burning buildings. is of SUI
preme Importance, says the Chicago
Inter-Ocean:
From my so years experience IN
fighting fire | offer the following sug-
.gestons as to the best thing to DO IN
fire emergency in all classes of build
ings. If the precautions which | here
point out were taken in every case, Ie"
lives would be lost in fires.
The terrible fate Of many guests in
the Hotel Windsor fire makes direc-
| tions 70 hotel patrons of first import
ance. The first thing a hotel guest
should do on entering his room is to
| locate the nearest outside fire-escape.
| After that he should familiariZe him
self with the location of the hall win
doNs and discover their relation to the
roof Of the adjoining buildings. He
! should next learn the position of the
stairs and their top and bottom land
ings. The top landing particularly he
should know all about, as we'll as the
method of egress to the roof. All this
| INFORM lIlt SutSl van tiNiullO IA
ten minutes or less. After making
these investigations, should fire
break out, he knows his relative loca-
/ ton and his various avenues of escape.
! Precisely the same rules apply to pri-
vate houses and fiat buildings, es-
pecially in cities where even pri-
vate dwellings are frequently five
stories high.
TEN THINGS TO REMEMBER
should the cry of Fire" be given
! ana volumes of smoke fill the corridors
| and the room. the thing above all
others to do is to keep cool Keep cool
keen cool keep cool-no matter how
| serious the fire seems-is the ADVICE
that | reiterate. If those VINO jumped
| from the windows of the windsor
hotel had kept cool and waited for the
firemen instead of jumping, most of
them would have been saved
When smoke clogs the corridors. fol-
low these instructions:
i Keep the door and transom of the
room shut.
,. open the windows from the top.
). Wet a towel and stuff it in the
mouth. Breathe through it instead of
through the nose. 1t will keep the
smoke. cinders. and fire from the lungs.
and its moisture will have a revivify-
ing effect.
4. stand at the window and get the
benefit OF the outside air.
). Should there be a rope fire-escape.
use it only when you deem it necessary
for your safety. If it is secured. as
~ r1narplN nv
hook. twist it several times around
some solid article in the room. Then
begin your descent 1t is a dangerous
experiment at best, and there is only
one safe way of doing it. That way Is:
Protect the hands by covering them
with towels or anything of a like ma
ture Grasp the rope firmly by both
hands, twist it once around the right
| leg. then placing it between the feet.
keep them firmly together, and in that
position slide down the rope as slowly
as possible. \ woman should go down
! the rope in the same way. In the
average case her clothes will permit
her to make an easier descent than
man.
s. IF possible. never let woman or
child descend on a rope alone. The
husband should secure the rope under
his wife's arms. place some article Of
furniture higher than the window sill.
near the window, and then let the
woman descend by paying out the rope
gradually. If the child is small. it is
we'll to tie il with bedclothing to the
breast or back of the person going
down the rope
:. Never jump unless the blaze is
| scorching. and not then if the firemen
with their scaling ladders are coming
up the building or are near.
| 8. Never go to the roof unless as
| last recourse, when you know that
! there is no escape from it to adjoining
! buildings. In the big buildings fire al
ways climbs to the top.
| 9 If caught in a corridor or a room
! always keep crouched to the floor and
| keep close to the wall. Keep as low as
possible. Fire and smoke ascend.
TO- If jump must be made through
| flame within a building to the lower
! floor. Judge the distance as carefully as
possible. throw blanket or covering
! over the head and make the leap. Then
| remove the covering, breathe but little
and carefully, and work gradually
| along the corridor until safety is
! reached.
! KEEP COOL AND TRUST FIREMEN.
| Theoretically l know of no other in
structions. The most important feature
| is to be prepared for an emergency. and
| the only way to obtain that prepara-
! ton is by a preliminary examination.
When one has made that eXamna-
ton he knows when the emergency
arises what is his best method of pro-
cedure.
What | have said may seem elemen-
tary. but | speak from long and active
experience, and | know that the in
! StructionS are accurate.
\ When / say keep COOL it is with the
knowledge that firemen will do their
| duty. There's not a coward in the de-
| partment. The tests are so perilouS and
severe that none but a brave man will
undertake them. The candidate for
membership in the department rejects
himself usually at the end of a week. if
he hasn't courage. The fireman who
has taken a thirty day course in his
school is competent to save life and do
heroic deeds.
When the men in blue are in sight
don't jump. They'll climb walls and go
through smoke and fire. Their mission