The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-04-06
CITY HALL NEWS.
274 Fires in Topeka Last Fis-
cal Year.
Gas Seems to Be the Principal
Trouble.
ALARMS INTO SEASONS
Winter Takes Prize for Disas-
trOuS Fires.
Other Items Of Interest From
City Building.

Topeka has had 274 fires during the
fiscal year ending March 81. The Of
fetal report has not been compiled by
the fire marshal and these figures were
obtained by scanning of the fire rec
ord book.
There are number of interesting
facts concerning the fires and their
causes.
In the first place the fires of the
year are divided into four classes
spring, summer, fall and winter. Each
| season of the year has its usual
causes and each season brings about
| the usual conditions for the fire
/ alarms.
In the spring time a majority of the
| fires are caused by the burning out of
chimneys and the burning of trash.
At this time of the year it is Gus
tomary to do the regular annual house
cleaning stunt and the stoves are piled
full with papers and waste material of
all kinds. AS result the chimneys
are burned out and the sparks become
lodged in between the shingles soon
kindling blaze. There were rs fires
caused last year from burning
chimneys and sparks. Out of the ten
false alarms turned in at headquarters
most of them came in during the
spring. The clouds of dust from the
same house cleaning establishments
seems to be the only reason for this
unusual happening.
In the summer time there are two
causes prevalent. Lightning and
spontaneous combustion carry away
| the honors during this time of the
year. There were only five fires
caused from lightning last summer
and ten from spontaneous combustion.
The lightning fires always occur in
the summer time and such materials
as coal. oily rags, and old rubbish
constitute the spontaneous combustion
habit. This leads the fire marshal to
state that it is extremely dangerous
for people to leave old rags and the
like around the house or around a
building. There were only ten fires
known to have been caused by spon-
taneous combustion but out of the
3S unknown fires there is plenty of
room for the combustion theory to
| prove itself. Old mops used with oil
on floors left lying around the house
| will soon develop into the blaze period
| temperature.
In the fall the bonfires carry away
a majority of the causes. There were
81 bonfire alarms last year and prac-
| tically all of them came in the fall
| when leaves. papers, rubbish and the
| like is being burned. There is a city
ordinance against building bonfires
within the fire limits but like about
half of the city ordinances it is not
obeyed. All of the six fires caused
| by LOGON olives occurred In the fall
when traffic on the railroads is heavy
and the roofs of adjoining property
| are dry.
| In the winter time gas seems to be
the chief trouble. There were all told
II fires caused by gas in the last year.
This does not include the big Copeland
| fire, the Parkhurst-Davis confiagra-
ton and the Bromich disaster. All of
| these fires more noticably the last two
were caused by gas. Then there are
head most of which were caused by Il
man hunting for gas leak with a
lighted match. This is indirectly a gas
cause. Then deducting from the SO un-
known fires again there are undoubted-
" a number of them with a gas root
In the winter time gas is burned much
more freely and Chief Wilmarth said
| to a State Journal reporter this morn
| ing that people could not be too care
full with the deadly fumes. In the first
place never hunt a gas leak with a
match. This rule is as old as the gas
itself but some people are still in need
of instruction. In connection with gas
| there is the gasoline problem-so many
people do not realize that the fumes
/ from an open gasoline can will spread
There We're five gasoline stove fires
during the year. which is a very good
Irecord-since natural gas has been sub
stituted for the red can.
| One of the big surprises of the yeal
lis the electric wiring cause figures. Ac.
cording to the known electric faults
there were only four fires caused By
Improper wiring. OF course, as Chiei
lWilmarth said, it is very hard to de-
itermine an electric wire fire as it is