Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-02-05
.LooatIon of FIre.Enrlne House.

ELocation Of Fire.Enrine House.
The Friendship Steam Fire Engine Co..
which recently sold les engine house at
Tenth and shipley streets TO the du Pont
Co, as a portion OF the site for the latter
company's new office building. has pur-
chased a lot on Iatnall street above
Tenth, only a short distance from its
recent location, upon which il proposes
to erect a new fire engine house.
One defect in the Wilmington Fire De
partment that has long been noticeable
is the inadequate distribution Of the fire
oxtinguishing apparatus, The Friend
ship house was located at Tenth and Ship
ley streets. The Phoenix is at Fourteenth
and King less than six full blocks distant;
the Delaware is on French street below
Sixth; the Reliance at Fourth and Lom-
bardi the Washington on French above
Third and the Fame on Second street
near shipley. These six companies were
located almost within stones throw
from one TO another, and the Friendship,
in its move 10 new quarters. does little
or nothing 10 improve this congested and
unsatisfactory condition with respect
TO distribution.
Maniiestly, as one OF the companies
was compelled to seek new location, IL
would have boen the part of wisdom, and
Of consideration also, had the needs of the
city's fire service been looked after, to
select a location in some district not so
well provided with fire protection. A
location in the vicinity of Ninth and
Madison streets for the new Friendship
house would have been much more desir-
able, and would have added considerably
to the efficiency of the fire department in
covering the city more generally in the
location Of the fire engine houses.
OF course, the matter Of locating an
engine house is one entirely within the
province Of the company, but at the same
time the city has a large concern in the
matter. While the department is a
volunteer one, the taxpayers pay for It's
maintenance and operation Annual APP
preparations of from $500 to S7,10O are
made to each company by the City Coun-
Gil, and the city also pays the salaries of
the chief engineer and the two assistant
engineers. The department, therefore,
is a sufficient charge upon the taxpayers
to entitle the latter TO consideration in
such matter as the change Of fire COM
pany from one location TO another and
it would appear that the oficiary of the
Friendship company should have con-
suited with the fire committee of City
Council before making purchase Of prop
erty upon which TO erect its new engine
house.
Doubtless il is too late now TO make
any change, so far as this company is con-
cerned, but it would be well to give heed
to this suggestion before any other changes
are made The time is coming when a
paid fire department will be a necessity
many people are of the opinion that the
time is already at hand-and when the
city takes over the fire department il will
be necessary to change the locations Of
some of the engine companies, in order to
distribute the fire protection more evenly
around the city. The change by the
Friendship would have afforded an adj
mirable opportunity for a decided step
in this direction, and It is unfortunate
that the matter was not taken into con-
sidention before the company went to
the extent Of purchasing site for its new
engine house. A much more advan-
tageous location, from the viewpoint of
thorough fire protection, might have boon
selected had this been done.