Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-09-28
ABUSE OF GASOLINE.
Liquid Does Not burn, Hut Napor Is
More Dangerous Than Dynamite.

Since the development of the motor
car. the number of fires due to gaso-
line has enormously increased. To-
day gasoline IL reCkoned as one of the
primary causes of conflagrations. one
Of the peculiarities of gasoline that Is
little known to the general public Is
that it will not burn or explode. The
explosion so often referred to is due
to gasoline Vapor. And gasoline Vapor
is one of the most deadly explosives
known. It is as powerful as gunpow-
der and far more likely to be set off.
An explosion Of mixture of 10 per
cent of gasoline vapOr with air has
been known to wreck a small house
lcOmpletely The sides of the house
were blown out, the roof collapsed, the
wreckage set on fire and the whole
thing destroyed. Gasoline Vapor is
heavier than air and falling to the
floor follows the course of the draught
| If this draught carries it to fire
which it IL very likely to do. the
flames shoot back like train of gun
powder to the source of supply, and
either ignites the gasoline vapor OF
causes an explosion.
In spite of these things householders
use gasoline az if it was SO much water
It is used for so many household pur-
poses-all the way from cleaning
gloves to killing vermin--that init
macy has bred contempt. But sooner
or later the careless user Of gasoline
comes to grief. and if he Is not killed
he stands a good show of losing all his
possessions. Gasoline should never be-
used in a room where there is a fire
! oh ha NJ
never in the house if it is possible t.
go out of doors In cleaning silk great
care should be taken. The tendency
of silk to generate static electricity
is we'll known and when 1t Is rubbed
violently this is increased. The dis
charge of this electricity may take the
form Of an invisible spark. but tina:
spark is hot enough to ignite the gaso'
line vapor.
There Is no excuse for kee ing gaso.
line in the house in anything except on'
of the modern safety cans. These
cans are so ingeniously contrived tina
it is impossible for a spark to enter the
can. The mouth of the can Is protect
ed by fine esh screen. which. on tn
principle of the miners lamp. prevent
the entrance Of fire Under no circum
| house. If 1t is necessary to keep OF
hand a gallon or more. il should b,
placed as far from the house as posi-
BILE. Where it is stored in larger guam
titles, it should be contained in an un
derground tank and raised by a pump
The further away from the house tina
tank is the better
These rules. which apply to the us
Of CHI oil ha fol |,
handling kerosene. benzine and the 9th
err highly volatile oils. 1t is not 81
many years ago that the starting of
fire in the stove with kerosene oil wa
one of the standard Jokes of the conf
papers. 1t was no Joke. however. I,
the person who tried it once too often
Recent experiments have shown tina
static electricity frequently is gener
ated by pouring gasoline into an insu
lated metal container. This Is tn
cause undoubtedly of many fires il
garages This gasoline is allowed T.
fall into a pail with a wooden handle
which hangs from the spout of the con
tainer. When the gasoline become
overchanged. the resulting spark start
q fire.
CARL D. STOCKWELL.
Chief Fire Dept.