The Sauk Centre herald., 1908-11-12
ALL ABOUT FIRES FOR MARKET DAY
State Marshal Peterson Issues q
Il Bulletin
POINTS OUT DANGERS
Valuable Information Given by State
Officer for the Benefit Of the
Public

Fires from spontaneous combustion
usually appear in the newspapers as
probably incendiary' or "of myster.
ious origin" What is known as spon'
taneous combustion, aside from thai
gained in chemical laboratories, comes
entirely from fires which are MOTTO
ed when they are starting. They soon
destroy the stuff which causes them
and then no one can tell how the
fire started. More than half of all
fires from spontaneous combustion
start in greasy rags. The chemistry
of spontaneous combustion is not
hard to understand if one knows how
a fire burns.
Burning is the same chemical pro-
sss in the rotting log, blazing, shay
lg and exploding dynamite, the only
Inference being in the time taken for
ne oxygen of the air to unite with
he carbon of the wood. If they unite
owly, as in the rotting of wood or
the rusting of iron or decaying pota-
= the heat is borne away unnoticed;
ii they unite fast enough to produce
heat that will roast out and ignite
turning gases, it makes a flame; if
SO fast that the expansion of the wa
Ir, in the form of steam and the
s.rbon dioxide which are made by all
combustion causes shock and noise,
it is an explosion.
In high explosives, wood fibre and
chemicals rich in oxygen are combin-
ed SO that the fibre, cellulose, can be
ar!laed in a closed space in which
there. is no air. The expansion of
as formed within the space can
Enrow cannon ball Or split rock.
The most powerful explosive mixture
is one containing two parts of hydro
gen to one part of oxygen, that being
the proportion necessary to form water
by uniting chemically. The hottest
fires make the most water.
The taking fire of any material
comes from it's being heated so hot
that the hydrogen and carbon in it
begin to unite with the oxygen of the
air to form carbOnic acid gas. This
gas, is made up of watered air. The
carbon dioxide being slightly heavier
than air falls to furnish breath for
trees and plants while the watery
yapor rises to- form clouds and return
in rain. So, we get back the product
OF the burning of our houses, but af-
ter it is greatly cheapened in value.
Spontaneous combustion, strictly
speaking, is the igniting of a sub
stance from heat caused by chemical
action within itself, but the word is
often used in speaking of any burning
which happens without the touch of
a flame, spark or live coal.
In the last 200 fires from spontan-
eous combustion reported in Ohio to
the state fire marshal, fats or oils on
cotton fibres caused 122. A fat when
warmed is oil; when smeared on any
thing it is grease. The animal fats,
tallow, butter and lard, unless rancid,
are less liable to cause spontaneous
combustion than the vegetable oils,
lirseed. cottonseed, nut, castor bean
and olive. None of these can take
fire spontaneously unless spread over
a large surface of easily ignited ma
terial, as when a cotton rag is wet
with them. They then take oxygen
from the air so fast that the heat
from the chemical union will, if it is
not carried away by movements of
air, rise to point at which the fibres
of the rag will first char and then
take fire. An instance: A mop used
il oiling a floor in the Home for
Working Girls in Columbus took fire
in a few hours after being put in a
closet under the stairs.
Linseed oil is chargeable with the
greatest number of burned buildings.
Cotton rags, sawdust or scraps of
silk wet with olive or cottonseed oil,
may take fire. These oils are likely
to get into any pile of rubbish.
Many fires start in closets from
rag-bags. greasy oyeralls. and from
cloths used in oiling the floor. Many
heavy losses on factories come from
fires started in their paint shops by
Continued on mage 7