Evening star., 1908-01-18
CAUSE OF MANY FIRES
CareIessnesS Ascribed as
Reason for BIazes.
VIEWS OF LOCAL OFFICIAL
Furnaces and Other Heating Plants
Need Attention.
GOOD CONSTRUCTION AN AID
Remarks on Careless Servants-scat-
tering Hot Ashes - Needed
Cooperation of Citizens.
GOOD CONSTRUCTION AN AID

mates of one OF these buildings were
awakened at about midnight by the in
tense heat which came from the radia-
tors and the throbbing OF the hot-water
pipes leading UP from t;ae furnace. which
was situated in the rear OF the cellar
under the store. The rapid superheatinE
OF the apartments. together with the
smell OF scorching wood. caused the occu-
pants 70 hustle qiI'ckly into the street.
Instead Of turning in an alarm. they
impressed passing automobile into serv-
ice, and dispatched II TO the engine house
situated a square or two away for a fire
man with an ak and lantern. Upon his
arrival the door leading into the cellar
and furnace room was broken open. 1t
was found that the man who attended the
furnace had loaded il up with COAL shut
parted for the night with the boiler near
~ empty. The fire In the furnace was at
a white heat. and had not the fireman
opened: the doors and drawn the Goals. an
explosion and fire would have resulted I'm
a very few minutes which would hava
ments and caused. perhaps. a dangerous
confagration in the neighborhood.
Carelessness Of Landlords.
'Of course the furnaceman was pri-
marily to blame, but the censure attach
lHS tO liS ACT OI CTlfllIldl CdESleSSue8S
would have availed little i'm the event Of
fire. Inmates OF buildings Of this kind.
as rule. do not have ready access TO the
furnace. as was the case In this instance.
where the entrance to the furnace room
was only accessible by going around to
an alley and breaking open the door with
an AK. s* III
ut is proba bia that the recent fatal fire
on 11th street northwest was caused In
ho mo Hxyhf oh n l,ox-A fhJ hssN
that the victim had unfortunately arrived
at the overheated furnace too late, and
her fatal injuries resulted from an at
tempt to check the progress OF the flames
without suitable extinguishing apparatus.
An alarm should always be turned in at
the earliest possible moment at the ap-
pearance of a fire. as often much valuable
time Is lost in these instances in the pre-.
liminary stages OF a fire.
Various Causes Of Fires.
Landlords. owners and tenants should
give the greatest care to the mana cement
of,their furnaces. both as to the fire itself
and the water in the boilers. as IT Is very
easy to cause a disastrous explosion IL
the water Is too low or let into the boiler
at the wrong time. We had nine nres
from overheated furnaces alone last year.
twenty-five from overheated stoves and
latrobes and six from overheated boilers.
&C.
largest number OF fires from any one spe-
cific cause-eighty-two in numher-and
landlords owe il themselves and their ten
ants to see to 1t that their chimneys are
cleaned every fall before the fires for the
winter are started. And while most land
lords we'll know that this is also the time
to have their furnaces pverhauled and the
boilers and water pipes examined. our
fire records show that they are derelict in
this regard.
TT is the ubiquitous small boy who
makes the firemen jump for their cloth
ing and apparatus when he gets busy
with matches or anything else which will
burn. and fifty Of our young Washington
hopefuls started as many fires playing
with fire and matches. while children
whose sex was not ascertained caused
thirty-four more fires by the same means.
One small boy produced beautiful
blaze from his standpoint, from cigar
ette
Lively Times All Around.
-Four men who smoked In bed aroused
the firemen that many times to save their
homes, while eleven careless smokers in
the house and seven in their stables were
responsible for that numbr OF fires. De-
fectiye fues caused twentyfour nres. and
these causes OF fire. Hike those from dirty
chimneys, could be lessened by proper at
tention on the part of landlords Fires
in various places were traced In twenty
three instances. Gasoline in its different
forms of use caused forty-nine fires, OF
which thirty-four resulted from the ignit-
ing of the fumes of this dangerous ana
highly volatile fluid.
..Tslat oil lamps and oil stoves are still
largely in use is shown by the fact that
fifty-seyen fires were caused by them in
one manner or another. twenty resulting
from oil lamps upsetting, seven from ex-
xxy1t1o oil Un
de fective oil stoves. Fffty-six fires were
caused by sparks from various sources.
including thirty-fve from matches, eleven
from chimneys and five from locomotives.
There were twenty-One k-'es originating
from spontaneous combustion. while
eleven were attributed to incendiary ori-
gin.
THAT candles have not entirely passed
is shown by the fact that they caused five
fires in this city last year Gas jets,
stoves and fixtures We're responsible for
fifteen fires. and electric wires for about
an equal number. Firecrackers brought
the depa rtment out but three times Burn
ing brush and rubbish in back yards and
in the outlying districts caused fOrty-siN
ala rms TO be turned I'm, while an eyplod
ing barrel Of whisky caused the fire horses
to make one run and a regretted loss OF
snake-bite cure from some standpoints.
Cooperation Of Citizens.
"As this Is the season when some care
less servants get busy with promiscuous
scattering OF hot ashes, tenants should re-
member that sixteen fires were caused
during the year by this apparently trivial
means Three fires in the District were
caused by lightning. while grease igniting
on the stove produced seven lively scram-
bles in as many Kitchens.
The cooperation of our citizens with
the department in the taking OF prscau-
tions against fires will largely tend to
their decrease. In the instance OF the
storage and sale of Kerosene. gasoline
and other inhammable oils the department
discovered fourteen cases in which the
reguia tions were being violated. and in
each of these cases the offending parties
were prosecuted in the Police Court and
fines imposed. Citizens should be more
than willing to comply With the reason
able regulations of the department in all
instances and while there are some who
do not do so. nearly all are willing to fall
into line. With the assistance of the lat
ter, and the frequent and rigid inspec-
tons carried on at all times, fires and
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