The Washington herald., 1908-03-22
SHOULD BE LIMITED BY LAW
Hugh Il. Wreaks, OF National Fire
Protection Association, Declares
that InflammabIe Substances Used
I'm Construction Invite Fire-Points
Ont How Difficulty Il to Be Met.

In an address delivered recently By
Hugh T. Wreaks, of the National Fire
Protection Association, the subject is dis
cussed with great vigor and suggestive
ness In part, Mr.. Wreaks said:
Fire danger is not a danger from
flames. as is commonly supposed but
from heat. II is also true that every
known substance will lose its strength or
disintegrate under some degree Of heat,
the only difference being that some sub
stances will carry fame readily and oth-
ers viii not, and that il takes much high
er flame 70 affect some materials than
others
How to Prevent Fires.
This then brings US 70 the relative i'm
portance Of preventing intense heat in
case of fire. by limiting the amount OF in
fammable material In a given building
proportioaate to the way in which this
building is divided or into areas separat-
ed from each other and from outside ex-
posure by proper cut-offs and equipped
with sprinklers and other extinguishing
] devices and also constructed from a FIRE
resistant point OF view or, in other
words. II would seem that public safety
required more Limitation Of eombustible
material permitted in any given type OF
building according 70 the capacity of the
building 20 resist fire and retard the
/ spread OF fire from one section 10 an
other, and that this limitation. on account
Of public safety. should be recognized by
law.
This would make a law analogous 20
the building law limiting the carrying
| capacity OF each floor according to its
strength. and, as a measure OF public
safety. It would certainly prove Of value
IN retarding the spread OF fire and in pre-
venting conhagrations
AN application Of such a law would. In
the speakers opinion. unquestionahIy
| have made the recent Parker Building
I fire IN New York more possible OF
/ handling and controlling.
Retardants Are Necessary.
ITO complete the so-called fireproof
building all openings must be protected
by retardants. which are self-closing in
case OF fire. such as freproof doors, win
dows. and shutters. and equipped with eN-
tinguishing devices. such as automatic
/ sprinklers. fire hose. and chemical extin-
guisEers; also such signaling devices as
may sound proper alarms either locally
or to fire headquarters. or both. IN case OF
FIRE. And similar extinsuishins and sig
naiing apparatus would be even more nee
essary in nonEre-ressstaut buildings.
And on these latter the addition OF nom
( infiammable. or better Yet, noncombust-
\ ible roofs, would seem 10 be Of interest
as important protection against fires
: from other buildings. We would then
have the following devices
a Fre doors:
b Fire shutters,
C Wire glass Window:
ID. Automatic spriukieFs:
c. fire hose. cotton rubber lines,
= Fire hose. linen
g Chemical exfinguishsrs;
n Noninnammabe OF noncosabusibie roofs.
with the end In view OF lessening the
/ Ere hazard" continued Mr.. Wreaks. two
questions naturally present themselves:
! L. Using OF such material in the build
I ing proper as shall make same fire resist
| ing or freproof
2. The use of fire retardant eXtinguish-
! ing. and signaling devices either 10 sup
plemeut nOninfammable construction or
TO lessen the hazard due TO ordinary CON
strvction. so called tnonhreprooO.
In the early days of this country wood
| construction. owing 10 cheapnesS Of sup
! ply. was largely prevalent. except in the
better class Of buildings. which had one
or more walls Of brick: large and fre-
quent conflagrations being prevented
owing 70 limited heights of buildings and
| frequent open spaces; the big fires In New
York, Boston. and Chicago being excep-
tions 10 this rule.
Use Of Iron In Buildings
The first attempt at noninhammablo
| construction was in the use Of cast and
wrought iron for columns. girders. floor
beams. and even fronts without any at
tempt 10 protect iron from heat Of possi-
! bic fire, so that owing to buckling and
distortion and absolute collapse of iron
construction. under influence of severe
heat. this form of construction was hard-
/ " much OF an advance over wooden build
/ ings. especially so when these buildings
were filed with in1ammable material. as
shown in disastrous results due TO severe
\ fires in buildings of this type.
The next step, and that which obtains
/ In much OF the best protection Of to-day.
/ consisted OF iron frame construction. in
which all metal structural members were
| covered with some material which would
withstand heat. and floors and ceilings
and walls being built OF brick, terra Gotta,
concrete, or other material which was
capable OF resisting severe heat without
| suffering any material damage.
In this connection II might not be
amiss to give brief description of the
characteristics OF various material used
| in building. as same relates TO their fire
resistant qualities and the effect OF fire
on them.
Starting of with wood, we find that it's
ready inflammability limits It's use. except
in the case Of very large dimension tim
bers. widely spaced in so-ealled mill con-
/ Struction. which, by the way. possesses
many points OF practical advantage
Resort to Other Material.
| Other materials used in building con-
struction may be ciassed as noninhsm-
mable. but have different values in re-
spect TO damage at high temperature and
sudden cooling. In fires Of any severity
the temperature viii vary from 1900 de-
grees 70 1900 degrees Fahrenheit: air cur
rents causing alternate heating and cool
ing. which sometimes lasts for hours. and
any material which has survived this
test Of endurance is liable to be subjected
| 20 sudden streams OF cold water from fire
hose. with consequent cooling and con-
tractive action.
stone shows poor quality OF resistance
/ when much exposed 10 the above condi-
tions. cracking or splitting apart or being
cslcined on the surface. Among ordinary
building stones. sandstone is least Affect
ed granite splits and files apart. marble
and limestone calcine and disintegrate.
Brick is a highly satisfactory material
under above conditions. although varying
in hardness according to the degree OF
firing IL has been subjected to in the kiln:
but this point is not serious. as soft brick
would be of little use in most construc-
| tion work II is also affected by different