Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-02-04
NEWARK HIGH IN
FIRE PREVENTION
Decrease OF Nearly Hall Million
in Loss Shown in Inspector
Gasser's Report.
SAYS PUBLIC CO-OPERATES
TO KEEP FIGURES DOWN
Elimination of strike-Anywhere
Match Would Lessen Total
Considerably, He Says.


In his annual report, which was
submitted to the Board of Fire Com
missioners today through Commits
sioner T. E. Burke. chairman OF the
committee, c. Albert Gasser, cher
Inspector of the Bureau of Com
bustibles and Fire. Risks, makes an
exhaustive review of the operations
of his branch of the service during
the year 1913. with various eomparl-
sons with the records of 1872.
INSTEAD of making the eoneludlns
paragraph of the report an inclden-
tai reference to corporation and sup
port, I beg leave to declare at the
very beginning that the five members
of the fire department detailed TO
this office have done yeoman ser
vice in the cause of fire prevention,
Captain Gasser says at the outset.
'sThey have been energetic, interest
ed and interchangeable and by their
good work have helped to make New
ark a safer place in which to hve'
1.-THE keen interest in fire preVen-
fion manifested by Chief Engineer
Paul J. Moore and his intelligent CO.
operation by lending the resources or
the department under his jurisdiction
have made Newark an honor CITY
among American municipalities seek
Ing to prevent loss of life and prop
erty by fire.
'Your bureau has made careful in
vestigation of every fire, system
OF complete records, including hre
causes. losses, kind of building, occu-
patton and many other items, having
been finally evolved in the latter halt
OF the year, so that the statements III
this report are based upon personal
knowledge. The helpfulness of your
secretary has made this possible.
fsirrifpT mi
departmental records for the first
time since the creation of fire de-
partment in this city.
"There were 1 ,567 alarms in the city
of Newark in 1913. this being an in
crease of SIS alarms over the preeed-
ing year. However, there were "a
more false alarms than in 1912, and
the records show, therefore, that in
the number of actual fires the city
has been more than holding its own,
despite the large increase in popula-
ton and in buildings.
I'm the matter of losses there is
cause for congratulation. as the fol-
lowing figures will show at glance;
Years Losses,
1912. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1,091, o55.40
Decrease ............ S40S, 461. n
"These figures are eloquent in
praise of the efficiency OF the Newark
fire department.
Twenty-seven Persons Burned.
UNFORTUNATELY there were twenty
seven deaths due to burning last year,
which was seven more than in 1872.
Of these twenty-seven fatalities only
eight were adults and seven of these
eight were women. Six women We're
burned to death while attending to
household duties, in each case the
Kitchen stove being the secondary
cause Pouring kerosene oil on
fmouldering kitchen fires claimed
three victims.
Nineteen children were burned TO
death of these fifteen were less than
five years old, and there was one each
of six, seven, eight and twelve years
of age. Four of the children were
burned at bonfires, an item which
compares favorably with the usual
record of ten and twelve in previous
years. Thirteen children who had
gained possession of matches were
fatally burned.
''Of the adults who died of burns
one was sixty-five years old, another
was seventy years, a third was eigh-
ty-four and another was eighty-five
years old. In nearly every case ex-
IRENE youth or extreme age is re-
xealed in the record. There seems no
method or system, no mode of per-
suasion or legal way of preventing
such unfortunate accidents.
1.-THE city added another Fourth of
July without an accident to its credit,
duplicating the experience of 1912.
The Years Fire Losses.
"of the total number of alarms dur
ing the year. 1867. there were 800
alarms against which no losses are
charged. These were false alarms,
needless alarms. fire scares and
small fires. which We're quickly extin-
guished. Oddly enough. the same
kind of alarms without loss in 1912
numbered S11. a difference of only
nineteen.
1.-THE amount of loss. as arranged
in groups and compared with the fig
ures of 1912. is given in the subjoined
table:
Groups. 1912. 1913.
False alarms ................ IS 1872
No loss recorded. 635 547
Needless alarms ............ IS lOl