The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-06-21
CITY AGAINST
HEAVY LOSS BY FIRES
From Wednesdays Daily.

evening at the special meeting of
the Mankato Commercial club, to-
ward securing a more adequate fire
! fighting apparatus for the Mankato
fire department. Although this mat
ter came up last for discussion, it
was not least in Importance by any
means. The recent destruction of
the malt house has spurred the
citizens on to take some action and
secure better protection against
fire.
President F. E. Crandall thought
that the best way to have the mat
ter explained to those present, would
be to have an expert tell of the
needs of the city along these lines.
/ He therefore called on Fire Chief
John LulSdorff.
You are very poorly fixed for
city of this siZe,' said the fire chief;
lit is known to every fireman in
the city of Mankato. And this is
the first meeting that has paid any
attention to the matter of fire pro-
lection since / have been chief of
the fire department We have no
tools to work with; what equipment
we have, was furnished TO the city
by the firemen themselves, who paid
for and built the trucks and then
sold them to the city. We have an
excellent fire station, but stations
do not put out fires; we have a
beautiful city and fine parks and
paving, but these do not put out
fires. .'.-
What Is Needed. &C., 81
Mr.. Lulsdorff stated that at pres
ent, the apparatus that was needed
first was combination chemical
and hose wagon. Although the city
has a good department as far as
the men are concerned, yet there
are not enough men. There should
be one fireman to every 1000 popu-
lation, but the city is three men
short. Another need was an aerial
truck. With this apparatus, the lad
der could be raised by one man in
a minute or so, or practically no
time, as compared with the present
equipment. s. ..-..,...sf
However, one of the most obvi-
Gus failings of the city in regard to
fire protection, was the poor con-
dtion and small size of the city's
water mains. These mains were
laid in 1878, said Mr.. Lulsdorff, and
at that time there were only two
consumers, so that the pressure was
almost too strong for the hose.
But since that time the mains have
been tapped in a thousand places.
Although the taps, have been in
creased in number time and again,
the mains have not been replaced
with larger ones since the first were
laid. Even on Broad street there were
four blocks of four-inch mains and
in many other places the mains are
only four and six inches. Corro-
sion has even decreased the inside
of these. In the front of the city
hall the mains are only eight inches
in diameter. .l,s.
Explained Size of Mains.
Chief Lulsdorff then showed those
present, the size of the mains and
their locations, from the map which
is used at the fire station. He said
that the city had plenty of water,
but independent mains, sixteen inch
es in diameter, should be laid in the
alleys in the heart of the city. At
present the fire department can do
nothing with the normal school, the
I
school, etc., because of inadequate
equipment. .,s. ... ....
Many fires, he said, have been
prevented by proper and frequent in
spection. Few people realize how
often the chief makes his rounds of
inspection, especially through the
alleys But the equipment has been
condemned several times by fire in
spectors, and concerning the saving
! in expense the feed bill was enor-
nous so that although the cost of
motoriZing the equipment would be
great it would be the initial and
only great cost.
How Paving Aids.
| Paving of the streets aids in get
ting to a fire quickly, and in the
last fifteen years many of the
buildings have been saved because
the fire department was able to
reach the place quickly. And lately
the alleys have also been cleaned
up, which is great help in fire
fighting. In this regard, he stated
that during a fire, the alleys are of
more Importance to the department
than the streets, because they can
at all times traverse the streets, but
lit is often impossible to make a
! turn in an alley, or use them at ALL
Rochester has recently purchased
a new piece of motor apparatus that
cost $4,000, but it is the most ex-
Cellent firefghting machine and is
well worth the money. Returning
to the subject of chemicals, he said
that this would be used principally
for inside fires and for outlying dis
tricts. The residents of Columbia
park, East Mankato, ETC., are tax
payers and therefore have right
to fire protection, and hence a fire
chemical apparatus should be added
to the equipment The chemicals
are also handy in backing up fires
and putting out sparks, where it is
believed other buildings will be ig
nited
Pumps Have Power.
There is nothing faulty with the
pressure. The pumps have enough
power to burst every piece of
plumbing in the city, if direct pres
sure were turned on
City Engineer H. F. Blomquist was
then called on to figure out what
the approximate cost of laying a
sixteen-inch main from Vine to Lib
erty street. He said that if a six
teen-inch main of medium pressure
oe IGN mounds xuora mead ho onct