The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-01-20
Best Methods For Preventing
 COnfIagrations
There Is No Such Thing As Fireproof Material Says
 Expert
Manufacturers Listen to
 Discussion By Men Who Have Attained Efficiency

11CL AOBCIllCOl C1
 There is no such thing as an abso- Iutely freproof building. and it isn't possible to make one" said Major John stephen SeweIf late Engineer Corps, U. S. A., at the monthly dinner of the Manufacturers Association, last evening.
 Last evening the discussion was along the line of freproof construction and fire prevention. Mayor Wilson and a number of prominent insurance men of the city were present as gues. s of the association. Besides Major Sewell, Ira Gould HoagIand, editor and manager of Insurance Engineering spoke on fire prevention
 There is no building material which cannot be damaged by fire if given fire enough said Major Sewell 'It IS possible, however, to build build ings and to garrison them to prevent fire breaking in at the small poin 8 and to keep the damage done to about 20 per cent. Up until a few years ago the idea of the designers of fire proof buildings was to make them re- sist fire from within themselves. Now we have profted by the experiences of the Baltimore and San Francisco fires paying as much attention to keeping fires out of buildings as we do to keeping them from burning up when fire starts inside.
 Both in Baltimore and San Fran cisco Buildings suffered because they were not protected from fire from the outside When a big fire starts it burns straight up and the fremen have chance to subdue it, but a con hagration is caused by a high wind which lays the flame down toward the ground and sends 1t along like the flame of a blow torch Sometimes fe dTfxr al yards beyond where the fire originally starts The hremen cannot fight it in front or. head 1t off. They must it burns itself out"
 Major Sewell then reviewed the h's- tory of fireproof construction and the results of the Baltimore and San Francisco fires. He pointed out that in these fires the buildings that stood were those designed to protect their contents. Major Sewell told of what happened to steel and iron used in construction of the buildings in sev- with a protection of brick and Port land cement were the best supports in bui ding material, as no fire would cause a column so protected to. buckle
 eff we are to consider what ought to be done in Bridgeport to lessen fire hazard I should say we might intro duce three grades of freproof con structiOn. One grade for department stores and important warehouses which are filed with infiamabIe ma fefial and in which many people are, employed should be the very best type. possible Another and less expensive material might be practical for hotels, theatres and office buildings The third grade could be used in construc- tion of factories, etc, in less con gest- ed districts The matter of fire limits also needs consideration, but if building itself is incombustible it is a great gain, for a confa grafton cannot gain headway so rapidly"
 Major Sewell then answered of questions which those present put to him.
 "A fire department said Editor bat a confiagration but it is expected to extfnguish small fires promptly city should establish conditions which make this possible. There are many them avoidable if proper precautions are taken. We should clean house of oily waste. litter, clothes, ashes. etc It pays in dollars and cents m the. end. The uses of matches is a prolific source of fires. The use of parlor or snap matches should be hazards should be isolated. Detec- ton should be made promptly and automatic if possible. Sprinklers should be used but there are many ire retarding devices being installed n modern buildings, which are worthless
 The fire in the Equitable building, one of the first of the so called fire proof buildings. spread from floor 10 1oOr because the floor openings were not protected and the fire ate up the contents of the building and destroy sd the floors, although the columns and girders stood. This can be pre- vented. however, if the floor openings are properly protected. They must De projected if the building is to be -eally fire proof, for combustible ma -erial will burn as readily in a fire proof building as in a combustible structure.
 ITO insure against conflagration we 'hould change the buildings laws and permit only fncombustible construc- ion No single roofs should be all 1 owed and the use of sprinElers should be made compulsory.
 Department stores should be re- 3tricted to certain areas and the fire | alarm system should be made as ef- | 'ective aS possible. The use of mo- l or driven fire apparatus increases he efficiency of the fire fighting force | md should be adopted by every large | ,ity. There should be a fire mar | sha1 whose sole duty it should be to l inspect and see that the laws are en- | iorced. With these things in force | md properly administered a great | ieal will have been accomplished to- ward the prevention of serious con- 1agrations."