The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1915-04-24
,,usEs OF FREs AND HOW TO
AVOID THEN

.n.n can. Employees find it easy to
~, the grease and oil from a motor
. an automobile and from different
~. with q brush saturated with gas
linz The fact that the gasoline is open
;, the air is q danger in itself, SAYS a
liter in a recent issue Of Safety En.
cheering, it being readily ignited by
mark such as caused by striking two
n;sess of metal together, a spark from
tbs ignition system by turning the
,tsrting crank, or by a spark from the
cigar or pipe Of some passer-by.
smoking in garages Is also very care
Lass but it is almost impossible 70 elm.
mate it. For instance, a man comes
into a garage with his machine after
having used it all day and has 3 cigar
IN his mouth. BE never thinks Of the
danger of that cigar and might will
ipgly throw it away if some one would
onIv draw his attention TO it. Few
men see the danger Of smoking in gar
ages and often they become quite in
Sipuant when their attention is called
10 the fire rules. But signs prohibiting
smoking often do good.
Allowing automobiles to enter gar
ares with their lights Lit is also a bad
plsn. It is simply another instance
where the flame from any one Of the
lamps might ignite the gasoline vapor
which constantly fills q garage. One
instance which WIS brought to the
writer's attention was where an auto
mobile was being taken into q garage
ns p. m. The lights had been put
out with the exception of the rear
lamp, and as soon as the car was well
in the garage, it became enveloped in
fame.
Electric motors, FORCES and stoves
are the causes Of many fires in garages.
Electric motors frequently throw
sparks and FORCES are q danger by
virtue of their flames; both should be
safeguarded A good plan is to have
q shield of metal placed about them,
extending from the floor to a height Of
or feet; then the gasoline vapor
would not come in contact with the
original point of danger, as it does not
rise that high. Stoves should never
be allowed. The heating apparatus
should be in a separate building or in
basement that has no connection with
the garage. The entrance to the base
nent should be outside.
Spontaneous combustion is another
cause of earelessness. Oily waste, If
not placed in a safe receptacle, wiz de-
cav of itself and smolder and IN time
will burst into fame. Cans Of zine or
Tin with covers are handy to put this
waste in and thereby save the garage
from possible destruction. Occasionally
sawdust or shavings are strewn under
a car to absorb the waste oil drippings.
This is a foolish idea and spontaneous
combustion is apt to result in this
case also. Sand is very good sub
stitute for sawdust and can be better
renewed.
Some garages contain small openings
in the floors, into which men 60 to
repair the under parts of machines.
Such openings are called pits. Case
line vapor is found very thick in all
low places and these pits are there
fore dangerous. In one instance, man
was in one Of these pits repairing a
machine which was partly over him
A nut became obstinate and he hit it
With wrench causing q spark The
instant the spark was struck, the thick
vapOr in the pit became ignited and
fame filed the pit and enveloped the
car at the same time. The result was
that the man was burned very severely
and the car was Of no use when the
FIRE was extinguished. Turntables are
considered bad in garages if there are
openings in the floor where they re-
vOlve, these openings being as danger
oas as pits. Public garages should al
ways be built Of hreproOf material and
a One-story building is preferred.
When a two, three or fOur-story build
ing is erected there should be no con-
neetion from one floor to an other, but
an outside stairway should be used
Some times tenants desire to install
an elevator. The best place for an ele-
vatOr is on the outside Of the building
with fire doors on each landing.
When the automobile business was
new, wooden floors were common IN
garages, but now people have become
more sensible and have replaced them
with cement. They realized that ths|I
wooden floors becams saturated With
oil and onlv adde6 IN the hazard.