Omaha daily bee., 1912-03-16
NATIONAL ASHHEAP SIZED UP
Small Cities and Towns Large Fac
tors In Fire Record for
Nineteen Eleven. --.

Small cities and towns OF the United
States made new high record in 1911
for fires that assumed conflagration pro-
portions. The heaviest loss anywhere was
8. 3.oo,0Oo In Bangor. Me-. but losses by
smaller conflsgrations occurred In cities
and towns that ranged in size from
Greater New York to the humblest COM
munity. The number Of such fires was
nearly 100. compared with s77 In 1910.
Twenty-six conflagration losses In the
boroughs Of the city OF New York were
recorded In the course OF the year. the
more serious OF which developed in Man.
haitian and Brooklyn.
Cities that escaped in 1910, but which
are in the record OF 1911 for two or more
conflagration losses. were: Birmingham.
Bakersfield and Oakland. CAL; Atlanta;
Evansville Ind; Dubuque. Ia; Wichita
Kan; Bowling Green, Ky; Gloucester,
Mass. st. Paul: Blnghamton and
White Plains, n. Y; Reading, Pa. Chat
tanooga. Nashville and Fort Worth.
Chicago again had four threatening
'biazes. Philadelphia had four, or twice
as many as in the preceding year.
Atlanta's four fires In the, conflagration
class were reminders Of the continued
presence Of conditions that favor general
fires.
The noteworthy losses were those In q
furniture Warehouse in Newark; Chamber
Of Commerce building. Cincinnati; block
OF buildings in Little Rock, Ark: a de-
partment store. Troy; several large mer-
camille buildings, including department
store, Minneapolis; a clothing factory 10
the Aseh building. New York City; the
state capitol building, Albany; a summer
amusement resort. coney Island; sugar
refinery, Brooklyn; q lumber yard and
woodworking establishment, 81. Louis;
large retail furniture store. Brooklyn; an
office building, Ogden. Utah; a row Of
mercantile buildings. Muskogee. Okla; an
office and stable building, and paper
box factory building. Jersey City. on the
same day; and in several large factory
buildings in Brooklyn.
Without exception, conflagratlons caught
small cities and towns unprepared 10
fight rapidly spreading fires. More than
once in 1911, as in former years. large
cities found II necessary TO ask neighbor-
ing places for help TO fight dangerous
fires.
On numerous occasions fire departments
were handicapped by low water pressure
and small mains. bursting OF hose. lack
of suitable apparatus. small number OF
men. accidents to the public fire alarm
system, delays at railroad crossings, mir
ing in mud Of several pieces Of apparatus
at fires in the outskirts Of cities and
towns. the sudden spreading Of fire
through unprotected window openings,
and through vents made by the collapse
of walls. delays in discovering fires, etc.
More than once. notably in Newark
and Jersey City. large parts OF cities
we're left for several hours practically
without protection from the public de-
partments, because each OF the fIrs-fight-
ing forces was engaged In extinguishing
one dangerous fire.
The number of lives lost and the num-
Der of persons injured in fires was large.
among firemen and occupants Of burning
buildings.
-Conflsgration dangers remain to con-
siderable extent throughout the United
Statex-Insurance Press,