Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-21
PREVENTION OF FIRE
What is Being Done Locally to
Reduce Danger.
INSPECTIONS AND DRILLS
Inquiry by a Board of Trade Com
mittee.
MR.. MACFARFAND'S RESPONSE
Satisfactory Progress Reported in
Eliminating Dangerous Conditions
and Improving the Service.
R. MACFARFAND'S RESPONSE

| AT the last regular meeting of the COM
| mittee on insurance of the Board of Trade
| a subcommittee was appointed to call upon
the District Commissioners to ascertain if
anything Is being done in this city in the
way Of increasing the safeguards against
| fire by the adoption of preventive measures
and regulations, especially in the elimination
of inf1ammable waste and refuse in large
buildings used by the public, such as stores,
theaters, etc, and also to discuss with the
Commissioners ways and means for inn
proving the personnel and increasing the
efficiency of the fire department. This
committee, with Mr.. H. Bradley Davidson
as chairman, recently conferred with Com
missioner mcfarland. who stated that
work was already being done along the
lines suggested and had for some time been
yielding satisfactory results. especially in
the direction of reducing the fire danger
from waste and in the increase of the eff
ficiency of the fire department by the
maintenance of a system of drills. Since
that time the matter was formally laid
before the Commissioner by Mr.. David
son In letter embracing the particular
tee, and the following reply, sent by Mr..
mcfarland to Mr.. Davidson. has now been
received
Commissioner Macfarland's Reply.
ut gives me great pleasure, in response
to your inquiry, to state briefly what we
are doing toward the prevention of fire
by official inspection. a work which seems
to me quite as important as that Of the
fire department in extinguishing fires.
For the past five years have had,
through the office of the fire marshal of the
fire department and the office of the cleo
trical engineer a constantly improved sys-
tenn of inspection for the prevention of fire.
The fire marshal and his assistants (now
three in number), under the directions then
given, have kept up constant and thor
ough examination of all buildings of a
business chasa cter. including the removal
of infammable waste and the proper man
view to Seeing that proper precau-
tions against fire were taken. The fire
marshal reports to the chief engineer each
days inspections, these reports coming at
once to my desk, so that can see what is
done from day to day.
Special Inspections
"From time to time special inspections
are made by the chief engineer or his as
sistants, as well as the fire marshal, of
hotels and theaters, which cannot be Ii
censed from year to year unless they COM
ply with the laws for the prevention of
fires and the safety of people going into
them, and also of other large buildings
where large numbers of people assemble.
The tneaters are inspected weekly to see
that they are obeying the laws in this re-
spect and District fireman is stationed
at each theater during every performance
under special instructions to do whatever is
necessary In case of fire, as well as to see
that all care is taken to prevent fire. The
scenery brought here by travelling COM
panies is inspected every Monday, and I'M
less treated with a fire-resisting chemical
solution of approved character cannot be
used
For the same period of time the cleo
trical engineer and his assistants have in
spected the electrical working and ap-
paratus In theaters, hotels and other large
buildings, and have gradually and greatly
improved the conditions The conditions at
the time these inspections began were in
some places very bad, indeed but by the
time the 1roquois Theater disaster oc-
Cured, two years later, we were able to re-
port that We had anticipated most of it's
lessons in the work that had been done by
the District departments Immediately in
terested. including the inspector of build
ings who had also certain duties to per-
form In this connection and whose work
has been of avery valuable character.
Control Of Electrical Work
1.-THE passage of the bill giving the Com
missioners, through the electrical engineer,