Evening star., 1901-11-05
FIRE CHEFS REPORT
Recommendations Made for Better
ment Of the District Service.
ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED
Suggested Penalties for the
Sounding of False Alarms.
THE TENURE OF OFFICE

Mr. Robert W. Dutton, chief engineer of
the District fire department, today sub
| mitted his first annual report to the Dis
trict Commissioners. The report covers a
considerable period of the past fiscal year
| before Mr.. Dutton took charge of the de-
partment. During the time he has been
at its head, however, Mr.. Dutton has
| studied every feature Of the department
| and its work, and in his report he makes
| many valuable suggestions to the District
| authorities The department responded dur
l ing the year to 10 alarms, an increase Of
II over the year previous. OF these 432
| were bell alarms and 27s silent or local
| alarms OF the ITO alarms sounded, 81 were
| false.
| The 62S fires occurring resulted in loss
of $685., ,677. The insurance on the property
| involved IS not given because the records
| of the department were not so kept as to
| accurately furnish such information. It is
| known, however that the insurance on the
| property burned many times exceeded the
loss for the year. OF the 62S fires, 274 oc-
| CURED in frame buildings and 354 in brick
| or stone structures. OF the 10 alarms
sounded during the year, 217 occurred be-
| tween noon and O'Clock pm. 237 between
6 o'clock pm. and midnight, 81 between
midnight and o'clock am. and 159 be-
| False Alarms Given,
'It will be observed" says Mr.. Dutton,
that nearly one-ninth Of the alarms re-
sponded to by the department during the
| year were false. In some instances these
alarms resulted through mistakes. in some
through undue haste. and many were due
to mere wantonness, the boxes in the last
! mentioned cases being pulled by persons
impelled by spirit Of malicious mischief.
| It is estimated that it costs not less than
| $25 to answer regular alarm Of fire, SO 1t
would seem that in responding to the
| eighty-two false alarms during the past
| year the municipality suffered an expense
Of not less than $1,000. Beyond this matter
of expense is the fact that the lives of the
| f1remen were needlessly endangered eighty
two times, for in responding the horses
| drawing the apparatus were driven practt-
cally the entire journey at full speed, dur
ing which the breaking OF an axle or part
| of the harness, the fail Of a horse or a. COL
lsion means. If not death, serious injury
to the men. Then, too, while companies are
| responding to a false alarm fire may
occur in which lives may be lost or much
| valuable property destroyed because Of
| their absence. For these reasons 1t is re-
spectfully submitted that the maximum
penalty for willfully and maliciously' send
ing in false alarm Of fire should be in
creased and term in the penitentiary
| should be made the penalty for a second
| offense. i-
| Strength of the Department.
"The strength of the department during
the past year was increased from twenty
to twenty-three companies, a truck COM
pany being established IN Georgetown and
| one in Columbia Heights and a chemical
engine company in TenIeytown. A water
tower of the latest and most improved type
| was also added to- the department, very
materially increas sing its fire fighting
strength. The department, however, is
hardly more than half, as large as 1t should
be, and in respectstohits reserve apparatus
| is lamentably weak there being but two
| steamers In reserve, two hose carriages and
| one truck, the aforementioned apparatus
! having been. In the department about
| twenty-three years, and 1t. has become so
| antiquated and weakened as to make it's
| further use practically impossible.
| The newest steamer in the department
| Is three years old, and some Of them have
been in service nearly twenty years. There
| is but one f1rst-class steamer in the depart
ment. No. IA. 1t has been in service ten
years and while 1t is rated at 1000 gallons
per minute, it Is not believed it would
now exceed 800 gallons
Needs More and Better Engines.
| 1.-The department today not only sadly
needs number of larger and up-to-date
| engines, but also several more reserve
| steamers and trucks. There Is hardly a
piece Of apparatus in the department, ex-
cepting, Of course, those acquired during
| the last year or so, that is not in need Of
| more or less repairs, and a number Of the
| engines are liable to break down at any
| time In such an event the department
| would be badly crippled, for 1t Is impossi-
BILE to replace an engine in less than sew
eral months time, as such pieces .f 6p-
paratus are not kept in stock. but are built
on order. There should be not less than six
| reserve steamers and two trucks, and these
| steamers and trucks should be in perfect
| condition and Of the same strength as
| those kept in active service
In regard to the purchase and care Of
horses for the department Mr.. Dutton
| says:
''To the credit Of those in immediate
| charge OF the horses, it can be said that
they receive the best Of care. and when,
| after a service of several years in the de-
unfit for further fire duty, they are trans
ferred to other branches Of the District
government, where they remain In service
for many years. The department has en-
ers, but SO far, except in rare instances
| lis eHorts nave been unsuccessful.
Inspection of Cellars.
Much of the time Of the fire marshal
was devoted during the past year to the
| examination Of cellars During the first
| several months he found many cellars al
most made impossible by the great amount
OF waste and rubbish, some Of 1t Of a very
inf1ammable character, stored in them.
Where such conditions were found the oc-
! cupants or owners of the premises were
| notlned and directed to clean out the Gel
lar In short order. To facilitate the work
| OF the fire marshal and of the department,
the police regulations were amended upon
| Its recommendation so to authorize the
| ch1ef engineer, the assistant chief engineers
and the fire marshal to enter upon at rea-
sonable hours any premises for the purpose
OF examination, the amendment providing
penalty for interference with or obstruc-
n a
atty for failure to remedy conditions found
by the examining officers to be such as to
endanger public safety. $ 1t is gratifying to
record that in but Few Instances have own
ers or occupants objected to the examina-
ton OF their premises Of failed to promptly
remedy bad conditions The department
has found. however. that in a number of
cases owners or occupants of premises in
bad condition ALLOW them to become SO
again soon after placing them in good con-