Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-04-03
URGE EXTENSION OF
. C|TY'S FIRE LIMITS
Captain Gasser Declares New
ark Has Gained Reputation OF
Being a Frame City"

Tie present fire lines viii be ex-
tended considerably so as to include
much of the outlying sections Of
Vailsburg and Forest Hill, if the
amendments to the present ordinance,
suggested by the committee on con-
struction and alteration. are acted
upon at the May meeting of the Com
mon Council.
An inspection of the present lines
will be made by the committee a
week from today, when the plans pro
posed by Superintendent William p.
O'Rourke, of the building department,
and Captain C. Albert Gasser, of the
bureau of combustibles, will also be
considered.
Newark has gained the reputation
of being the frame City," declared
Captain Gasser, because the fire
limits. which prohibit the erection of
frame buildings have not been
changed in seventeen years. Through
the faults of it's old construction the
fire losses in the city amounted TO
81 .O00. 900 in property and twenty lives
sacrificed during the past year, he
added.
Captain Gasser stated he was in
favor of the extension of the fire linn
its from a point aat the Passaic River
and Chester avenue to Ballantine
Parkway. to the city line; thence
southerly to Hawthorne avenue;
thence easterly to the Waverly and
Passaic branch of the Pennsylvania
Railroad to the Passaic drive, He
also stated The fire limits should be
sharply defined, so that in the event
Of conflagration they would be
effective.
The plan submitted by Superin-
tendent O'Rourke places the proposed
limits, starting from the Passaic
River at Mt Pleasant Cemetery, to
Mt. Prospect avenue, to Second ave-
ME, to Branch Brook Park, along
that boundary to ethe Lackawanna
Railroad, to the East Orange line,
following that to Central avenue and
the boundary of Paramount Cemetery
to South Orange avenue, to city line,
extending along that to Avon ave-
| nue.. over to Seymour avenue, to
Bigelow street. to the Pennsylvania
Railroad, north TO Murray street, TO
Dawson street, to Chestnut street,
to the Waverly and Passaic branch
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, fol-
lowing that road to the Manufac-
turers' branch of the Central Rail-
road to Ferry street. to Chapel street.
TO the river.
Besides these general limits the
lines would extend 100 feet on each
side of the following streets: Wash
ington avenue to city line, Bloomfield
avenue to city line, Orange street to
city line, Central avenue to South
Tenth street, South Orange avenue
to Mum avenue. Springfield avenue
TO city line, Elizabeth avenue TO
Hawthorne street, Frelinghuysen
avenue to city line and the Plank
road and Hamburg place to city line.
superintendent O'Rourke said he
fully approved of the larger limits
suggested by Captain Gasser and SUBJ
mitted a set of resolutions from prop
erty-owners in the vicinity of the
Newark sash and door plant which
was destroyed by fire March 10, re-
questing that no premit be issued for
the rebuilding of the plant and that
the fire lines be extended.
The aldermen on the committee in
structed Superintendent O'Rourke to
prepare an amendment to the build
ing code prohibiting the building of
fore-and-aft tenements. This will
probably be Submitted to the Common
Council tomorrow. This style of struc-
ture consists of three-story frame
buildings with two families on floor,
one in front and the other in the rear
1t has been used extensively by
builders since the double-deck type
that is, two families ON floor. with
a hallway in the centre of a three
story frame building-was prohibited.
The question OF limiting the height
of electric signs on roofs viii be taken
up with the fire department by NJ
O'Rourke next week and set of
rules regulating the size of projectir
signs will he formulated by him and
the members of the Board of Works
who now have jurisdiction over them