The Washington herald., 1908-03-17
FIRE CHIEF REPORTS
Condition of Schools Made
Known to Commissioners.
SUGGESTIONS, ALSO, ARE MADE
Pointed Out that the Most Danger
GUS Points In Buildings Are the
Stairways and Easements, and
These Should BE Kept Clear of
InfiammabIe Material.

schools Of the District and the general
| condition of the schools with respect 10
| fire protection. is the subject of report
made by Chief Belt, OF the fire depart
ment. to Commissioner Macfarland yes
terday. This report represents a weeks
work. In which various schools in Wash
ington were visited and inspected.
mo alarmingly unsafe conditions were
brought to light by the investigation. and
all apprehension and anxiety are ground
less in this respect" said the chief. "as
all the schools 1 visited have wide corri-
dors and Railways and iron stairways,
except the Tower School, which has
wooden stairways. The larger schools
were given preference"
In the Various Schools.
After investigating the conditions in
the Franklin. Thompson. Central High.
Peabody, Garnett, Henry, Polk, Gales.
Eastern High. Wallach. Tower. and the
Manual Training for boys and girls, the
chief reports that in no school building
have conditions been found which would
warrant alarm on the part Of parents
Fire drills We're held in several Of the
schools. and these were highly satisfac-
tory. The longest time consumed in
emptying any one building was one min
ute and ten seconds.
Every building is assigned fire.
alarm box, and within two minutes after
an alarm is sounded the firemen would be
on the scene.
Il would further state that the most
dangerous points in any building are the
Easements and stairways. Nothing OF
an infammable nature should be kept
in easements. All brick school buildings
should have iron stairways. and II any
wooden stairways now exist they should
be replaced by iron.
Made Fire Resisting.
Railways and corridors leading from
stairways 10 exits should be made fire
resisting, and all ceilings In Easements
and the underneath portions Of wooden
stairways should be similarly protected
This should be done by first covering the
ceiling with asbestos. and then tacking
metal sheets over the wooden strips The
metal sheets should be lap-seamed.
In all large school buildings, two or
more stories in height. should be installed
an electric hre-alarm system, with six
inch gong on each floor. and with striking
stations in the engineers room and on
each floor This system should be substi-
tuted for the present manner Of sounding
the alarm by means Of a bell sounded by
hand This proposed system woV7 be far
better, in view of the fact that there
would be no chance of any pupil in the
building failing to hear the alarm. no
matter in what part Of the school he
might be.
In some Of the schools the janitors
were not familiar with the use Of the fire
extinguishers. and the extinguishers were
found TO be in a bad condition as regards
cleanliness. Every school building should
carry a supply Of extinguisher charges on
hand and the extinguishers should be
thoroughly cleaned at least once in two
weeks They should be discharged and
recharged once in six months. II is sug-
gested that the janitor OF each school
building be assigned certain specific du-
ties with reference to fire extinguishers
and other appliances TO safeguard against
fire."
Commissioner Macfarland will recon-
mend to the Commissioners that this re-
port be sent TO the board of education,
with the suggestion that Il prepare esti-
]
authorized under the law. This provides
that the board OF education shall prepare
the estimate for the public schools which
shall be transmitted TO Congress-the
same action that was taken by the Com
missioners on receipt Of Supt. Stuart's
report. and which was taken by them in
former years whenever such reports were
received.
VIII Recommend Estimates.
In this case the Commissioners will
recommend such estimates. when sub
mitted by the board of education. Until
the estimates are received the Commits
sioners cannot ask Congress for the
necessary appropriation.
In view of the statements recently made
about the danger in certain church build
ings In case OF fire, Commissioner Macfar-
land asked Chief Belt yesterday to ex-
anime the church buildings as soon as
practicable. without interfering with his
investigations of the public school situa-
tion, and report what ought to be done
to improve their safety
The Commissioners will also call atten-
ton to the statements in the report Of the
chief Of the fire department about the ac-
cumulation OF combustibles in the schools.
and other matters OF administration under
the board of education, including the in-
struction of Janitors in the use Of fire
extinguishers, the proper keeping of fire