The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-16
BENNETT OPENS
 WAR ON SHINGLES
Urges Commission to Pro- hibit Their Use Within
 Corporate Limits

The first gun In war against shingle roofs in Birmingham was fired yesterday by A. V. Bennett. chief of the fire de-
 partment, in a letter to President Gull pepper Exum of the commission. It was
 referred to the city attorney to draft an ordinance incorporating the recommenda- l tions of the chief.
 The letter says that the shingle roof is
 responsible for a large percentage of the fires in Birmingham, and that "our citi-
 zens will be burdened with high insur-
 ance rate until we adopt some method of preventing these fires
 President Exum, in commenting upon the dangerous shingle roofs, said: ''I firmly believe that if we require all fu-
 ture construction to be of some material
 other than wooden shingles our fire insur-
 ance rate will be cut in half. The shin gles now used are extremely dangerous,
 and I am in hearty accord with the letter
 of Chief Bennett.
 Commissioner Lane agreed with MT.
 Exdm, and it is probable that the or
 dinance will be adopted.
 The commissioners desired yesterday that 1t be pointed out that there is no in-
 tention. of requiring a citizen to tear off his present shingle roof, substituting something for it. The proposition is to require all remodeled buildings and all new construction to be without wooden l shingles.
 The letter of Chief Bennett in full fol- | lows:
 Birmingham, August IA, 1911 | Hon. Culpepper Exum, President Board | of Commissioners, City:
 Dear Sr-The city of Birmingham, at heavy expense, is equipping it's fire de- partment with motor-driven apparatus as | a means of increasing it's efficiency, which will, no doubt, prove a wise and econom- l ical investment and result in the saving of many thousands of dollars; but not withstanding this improvement our losses will continue to be heavy, and our citi- | zens continue to be burdened with a high 1 insurance rate, until adopt some method of preventing an increase of the already abnormally large number of | fires we are called on to extinguish each year.
 When we realize that the shingle roof | is responsible for more than one-third the total number of fires that occur each year. and because of 1t we are penalized at least 25 per cent in premiums on each dollars worth of insurance carried, that | 1t is a constant menace to our families, our neighbors, and our city, we can ap- preciate that it is the most expensive, as well as the most dangerous. roof we | can use for our homes.
 | During the year 1910, this depart ment was called on to extinguish 1295 | fires, of this number AT, or 32.2 per cent, were caused by sparks on shingle | roofs, 34 of which were communicated | to adjoining buildings that were dam Iacut cd ha fc | of the fire department. For the first six months of the pres | ent year we responded to S4S alarms, | 205, or 36 per cent of which were caused by sparks on shingle roofs and 108 communicated to adjoining build | ings. "The shingle roof perhaps works it's greatest harship on the poorer class and especially the negro population whose sole possession consists of scanty household and personal effects on which they are unable to carry insurance, and who are forced to live In houses built so close together that fire in one is communicated to others, by means of the shingle roof, before the fire de- partment can possibly get its appl- ances in operation with the result that the furniture and clothing of several families is burned or runied from every fire of 1 0 minutes duration. The history of the shingle roof has everywhere been obscured by clouds of fire and smoke. They are known con fagration breeders and should be summed as completely as the most dreaded disease germ. Such striking examples as Jackson vile, in which s11 100000 worth of property was destroyed In six hours; Chelsea. in which several square miles of houses were burned despite the best efforts of the splendid Boston fire de- partment; Rochester, In which thous- ands of citizens lost their homes In a | few hours and in our own state, | Fayette, Dora and Albertville all prac- tically wiped out of existence in a few hours, by means of the shingle roof. are but illustrations of the fate that threatens our city all the time.
 'In view of the above facts, I would earnestly recommend that your hon. orable body pass the necessary ordin- ance prohibiting the use of wooden shingles within the corporate limits of our city. to become effective not later than January l. 1912. Respectively sub mitted A. V. BENNETT,
 Chief Fire Department"