Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-06-24
FIRE MARSHAL REPORTS
TO THE COMMISSIONERS
Tells of Wood Shelving and the
Storage of Gasoline.
INSTRUCTIONS OF CORRIDORS
Urges Fireproof Sheathing, New
Fireproof Buildings and
Safeguards.

Declaring that conditions in the patent
and land office buildings are hazardous
from a fire point of view: that the rooms
and corridors are filled with combustible
materials and that gasoline and kerosene
are stored in a manner prohibited by the
District regulations. District Fire Mar
shall P. w. Nicholson submitted a long
report on the subject to the Commission
ers today
The inspection Of the buildings was
made at the request of Clement S. ticker,
chief clerk Of the Interior Department.
A committee, consisting of Chief Engineer
Hill. Capt. Ozburn and Chief Electrician
Gibson of the department assisted the
fire marshal in the Investigation. Ac-
cording to the report numerous changes
will have to be made to insure the safety
of the buildings and their occupants
Not only are the conditions hazardous
with respect to the origination of a fire
it is stated. but the present arrangements
would seriously hamper firemen in at
tempting to extinguish a conf1agration
Conditions in Patent Office.
In his report of the patent office the fire
marshal says:
The worst conditions are on the third
floor. 9th street wing. The entire floor
and corridors are taken up with COM
bustible matter. wood shelving, filled with
official documents The corridor is used
by the public in the examination of rec
ords and the position of the clerical
forces is obstructed by desks and tables.
There are two balconies extending from
the floor to the ceiling filled with wood
shelving, in which are stored official docu-
ments with small aisles hardly wide
enough for one person to pass The con-
ditionS are much congested. In the event
of a fire the fire department would be
much hampered by the distractions from
the corridors, besides encounterng a
regular wall Of fire The stairways are
hiden from view by the wood shelving
and are not properly located There are
two wire gates in this corridor. separat-
ing two different bureaus, that are kept
locked at night. This should not be al
lowed"
Storage of Gasoline.
Severe criticism is directed against the
manner in which gasoline is stored in the
patent office. Concerning this feature the
report contains the following:
There is a small room in the base
ment, 7th street wing, which is used for
the storage of oils. I found in this room
two wooden barrels. one containing kero-
sene and one containing gasSoline. The
manner in which gasoline is stored
should be abolished at once. as it is very
dangerous A leak is liable to occur at
any time. and if some person. not know
ing the volatile conditions, should strike
a match fire and probably an explosion
would be the result. The regulations pro-
hibit the storage of gasoline in this man
ner.
In the Land Office Building.
The report declares that conditions sim
liar to those in the patent office were dis
covered in the land Office building. On
the first, second and third floors of this
building, it is stated the usual amount of
combustible materials was found The
f street wing, particularly, is declared to
be congested
I'm the basement" says the fire mar
shal 'the different rooms are filled with
wood shelving filled with official records
all combustible materials, with narrow
aisles. and very much congested. From a
fire point Of view, | consider the condi-
tions bad. The basement and the attic
are stored with combustible material
with no protection from fire, with the ex-
ception of the three-gallon fire extin-
guishers, which would be inadequate TO
cope with fire of any magnitude
Protection of Occupants.
For the protection of the occupants OF
the building. Mr.. Nicholson recommends
that the wood sheathing on the Z street
wing be removed and be replaced with
fire-proof construction; also that sep
arate fire-proof building be provided for
the storage of all official documents and
records.
The installation OF chemical storage
system also is recommended.
To insure an even greater protection
for the occupants of the building. the
fire marshal points out that auxiliary
stations should be alta ched to the city
fire alarm boxes and located at conven-
lent points about the building. and that
2 system of signal gongS be installed
on the different floors.
The report of the fire marshal covers
twelve typewritten pages, the first
eight of which are devoted TO a de-
1Continued on Second PageD