St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-04-27
Our Fire Protection.
A Letter from Charles S. Hastings Regard
ing Conditions at Home.
To the Editor of the CALEDoN1AN:-

To the Editor of the CALEDoMAN:-
would like to say few words in
regard to several points brought up at
the village meeting last week Tuesday
night, both as an insurance agent, as
well as a property holder.
Mr. Cars statement in reg ard to the
work done by the paid fire departments
of Burlington and Rutland, will I am
sure stand investigation. According to
Mr.. Hills statement, the hydrants were
all out of commission at the Rutland
fire, being frozen solid. If such was the
case, and no one doubts Mr.. Hills word,
what difference would it have made,
whether paid or a volunteer depart
nent, had the fighting to do?
At the burning of the Hotel Burling-
ton, the papers said that the fire was SO
sudden and fierce, that the guests had
hardly time to get out of the building,
losing all their personal effects in their
rooms, etc.
recall also that the papers said that
the fire was supposed to be all out when
suddenly it broke out seriously in the
block adjoining and was practically
beyond control in a short time.
We remember also that when the
Avenue House caught fire on a Sunday
afternoon, the fire spread SO rapidly that
street, and poor Thad Spencer, who had
boarded there for years and knew the
house from cellar to garnet, lost his life
before he could escape. In such cases as
these, there is no great difference
whether we have paid or volunteer
crew to fight the flames. but we all
know that few minutes work at the
first starting of a fire is worth hours
after the flames are under Roadway.
This is the great point claimed by all
makers of fire extinguishers, chemical Or
| otherwise, and is very much true. A
| blaze that could easily be extinguished
! at the start by a pail of water, might
| take hundreds of barrels in a very few
| minutes.
The claim made by the chemical man.
ufacturers-is that the same quantity OF
| fluid treated by this process, will ex-
tinguish a hrein the proportion of 40 to
/ 1, which has been demonstrated time
and again.
I have occupied the same Office for 80
years and during this time I have seen
the hook and ladder and the hose wagon
start for fires at many different times. A
great many times they will get out on
to the street in front of the post Office
and wait for men and horses to start
down the Avenue, often waiting for
pair of horses from the livery stable to
hitch up and be attached to the truck,
perhaps ten minutes and in most cases
these horses are small and light speci-
mems of horse flesh. hardly strong
enough to draw the ladder truck. Now
under modern fire protection systems,
the horses are large and strong. are
attached to the truck in a very few
seconds and are on their way to the fire
instantly.
Time is very important element in
fighting fire and under these conditions
the fremen do not have to go to the
house to help get out the machine"
but go direct to the fire, knowing that
when they get to the place the appara-
tus will be there. In this way can see
why it is practical to only have a very
| few regular paid men on duty.