Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-16
PRECAUTIONS
AGAINST FIRE

To an extent probably not equaled by the
officials of any other city in the country,
those in charge OF the District fire depart
ment are endeavoring 10 prevent the loss
of life and property from fires in Washing
ton by the elimination as far as possible
of the causes of confagrations. In this
work of prevention the local department,
under direction OF Commissioner Henry b.
F. mcfarland. has recently instituted
system of inspection. the thoroughuess OF
which is perhaps known TO but few citizens
of Washington.
BY means of careful and systematic
| inspections the officers of the District Are
department have become familiar with tho
conditions relating TO fire risks and fire
| lighting in all of the thousands of large
business establishments. hotels. apartment
| houses. etc, in the District. The chief
| engineer of the department, his deputy and
| the fire marshal and his assistant have
| carefully gone through every part of every
| large structure IN the District. while the
! several battalion chiefs the captains and
/ ieutenants have made careful inspections
| of all the large buildings within their re-
| speCtiVe jurisdictions.
On these inspections the officers OF the
| department have acquainted themselves
| with the conditions on the outside OF the
building, the character of the structures in
| the vicinity the difficulties that would likely
| be encountered from the outside in the ef-
| fort to fight possible fire In the structure
| Then the interior of the structure has been
| inspected so that the officers may be ia
miliar with the construction of the build
ing, the arrangement Of the rooms. the
location of stairways and all other fea lures
that have to be considered in extiuguishing
| flames inside a building. The officers have
acquainted themselves with the arrange
| ment of the cellars and their contents.
x
Where inflammable material has been
| found stored in dangerous place the Of
| fcers of the department have seen to its
| removal. Precautions have been taken 10
keep the exits of the buildings open and
| the passageways unobstructed, while fire
escapes have been ordered erected on those
structures which. in the opinion Of the Of
| hcers, need such protection for the occu-
pants. In some of the structures the de-
partment has required the proprietors TO
install exit signs, emergency hose fire ex-
tinguishers and such other apparatus OF q
precautionary character
In addition to the private business es-
adjustments and hotels inspected, all OF
the government and District buildings and
charitable institutions have been carefully
Inspected, and changes have been made In
these buildings for their better protection 4
and to minimize the fire risk. II IS eX- |
pected that the firemen in the various conn
panies will also be taken In squads through
the DulIulISS IN lhelr respective districts
In order that they also may have knowl-s
edge of the conditions to be met with In the
event of confiagrations in the structures.
K
Besides the special inspections the fire
marshal and his assistant daily visit from
eighteen to thirty buildings making at I
least one inspection of every business es- !
tablishment, hotel and apartment house in /
the District during the year. The reports
of the fire marshaIs tours are placed he
fore Commissioner mcfarland each days.
and he peruses them carefully, and when
any building is reported to be in an un-
satisfactory condition. the Commissioner di-S
reefs further steps to remedy the defects
to which objection is made.
The department has also lately had the
assistance of the inspectors working unders
the direction and in the employ of the board9
of fire underwriters. The reports of these
inspectors as to conditions discovered in
the various buildings are transmitted TOD
Commissioner Macfarland for consideration /
1t is taken as an indication of the thorough
ness of the departments officers that the /
inspectors of the underwriters report very
few defects which have not been previous
~ discovered by the department. 4
The recent enactment of the electrical |
wiring law. giving the Commissioners au-i
thority to make regulations governing cleo
u iteii WILING HI the blSlIlCl, has also DGtll
a factor in diminishing the danger from
fires in the national capital I
When Commissioner Macfarland took J
charge OF the fire department about four |
years ago the inspection system of the de-i
partment was not very fully developed. Hell
took up the matter at once, and drectedi
inspections, which were at first made byl
the chief engineer and the fire marshal. !
From this beginning the present extensive
system has grown. The inspection of the ]
theaters and places of amusement was the |
first feature of the work taken up, and that's
is the reason that very little additional pro- !
lection was needed in the local thea ters /
when the officials Of all the cities of thei
country were startled by the IroquOis The!
alter fire disaster in Chicago. When the
inspections were first begun considerable
dangerous electrical wiring was discoveredf
but the proprietors of the theaters and no.
tells generally co-operated with the officials,j
in the absence of law to compel them, inl
changing the wiring and making IL safe.
The officials of the Washington fire de-
partment now know what fire risks and
conditions they have to contend with and
what preventive measures are necessary!
They are also acquainted with the build
ings in which the most serious fires would
be likely to occur, and they are equipped