Arizona republican., 1916-10-09
(By One of the Committed

First, we must always remember that fire is and always will be abso lutely necessary. Therefore it be- hooVes Us to be its masters and to take precautions so that at no time will it master us. We have many eX- amples of cases where fire has ruled, i and we only have to think of such conflagrations as Chicago with It's [ terrible loss of $165, 5,000,0 900. Boston with a loss of $70,000000 Baltimore 1 with a loss of $60,000,00 and in re- ! cent years, San Francisco with the , appalling loss of $350 0000,000. l have here only enumerated a few of our biggest fires and have, for lack Qf ! space, omitted the many others with losses running into millions or dollarS.
 In looking into the history of all the large conflagrations, we find that almost without exception, they nave occurred at some inopportune tune when the fire departments were handicapped by lack of the proper | facilities with which to combat the flames. and in many cases where the winters are severe, the firemen were handicapped by nature, in the form of heavy frosts which would freeze the water in the hose lines, thereby rendering the department helpless.
 In considering the question Of Ire prevention, were we dealing with the contemplation Of building up new city. we could make such laws re- garding construction, that by making all buildings in congested areas ire proof, it would be impossible for fire to spread beyond the building III which it started. Unfortunately however, our problem is in dealing hn old and of a highly combustible na- ture We. therefore, have to try and make them as safe as possible However. this should not prevent us from passing laws so that at least in our congested or business section we can prevent the erection or build 1 ings that are not of fire proof con 1 struction. We can also prohibit the use of shingles. and here 1t IS well | to point out that in nearly every l conflagration shingles have played 1 the biggest part in spreading tlle | fire. our laws regarding arson are ,voreo than in any other civilized | country. and leaving out the ques- tion entirely of better construction of | buildings we can reduce our flre losses in this country 50 per cent or perhaps more. by making it easier 10 | get convictions for arson, ana pH mal,irp the penalty sufficiently severe fo meet the crime. This point VIII be clear to you if you stop 10 con slider that If 1 own building Wiich ! through my carelessness shoulu ouiI'' and as a result my nelghoor prop ertv should also be damaged or ue- etrovnd that I should be held per sonaIiy responsible for the damage done to my neighbor's property ana therefore Inc compelled to replace II, ,,o,, can rest assured that l would not he careless Tn my disposition or matches or oils I would also see that my chimneys were properly con- etructad and | would not tolerate the uen of q stove pipe which had to pass through any combustible material. believe I you'd purchase for the small sum of twenty-five cents, tn can in which 10 keep all oily rags. My electric wiring would also be propeflY installed and if I were fortunate anongh 10 have some children, ,yo,ild sec to it that all matches were kent in nlaces out of their reach, as my failure to do SO might mean, nos only the loss of my home, but also the lives of my family. Do you ever consider the number of lives that are annually sacrificed to the careless ness. vet the criminal carelessneSs or our people2 And if through crimlnal care!cssness a life should be lost. then wh,' should there not be law to nunish the party or parties responsible for that crime
 So far as Phoenix is concerned. we have taken step in the right d. rection towards reducing our fire waste. in the organization of the Phoenix Fire Prevention Association and we hope that in a very shor' time we can announce a change IT name to that of the Arizona Fir Prevention Association, associated with the National Board of Fire Pre- vention, which organization IS dolns a vast amount of good work through out the country. When our organiZa tion gets properly under way, it memhershiD will consist of the leading men in business throughout the state and as it's aim and object directly affects everyone resident in the state we will welcome everyone as members who are interested in this work. Th' 9th 1ay Of October. 1916. will be th' first day in the history of Arizonf wher everyone throughout the stat will have one and the same object namely to clean up their propert, and to see that there are no darl corners or places under stairway neglected and once every year here after this day will be observed a ''clean-up day throughout this state as it is observed in thirty-five of tn
 other states If everyone will do hi or her part, we can not only lool forward to a cleaner place to live, bu
 to that which all property owner
 hope for-reduced fire insuranc
 rates
 Our local fire department has don
 splendid work since its reorganiza
 tion by Chief Wright. and we can al
 depend upon him when he is called
 and with but few more improvement
 and additional apparatus. we vii
 have a fire department that any cit
 in the country man envy.
 Do not forget that october 9th,
 Cleanup Day" not only in namc
 but in fact All good citizens wi
 join in this movement and will volun
 tarily do their part. Others will b
 forced to do so. and although W
 sincerely hope there will be no occas
 ion 10 resort to other measures tha
 q request we wish to remind every
 one that the inspectors who will vis
 vour property on Monday will hay
 full authority to enforce their re
 quests, and is not complied with, tn
 work will be done by the city at tn
 exnense of the owner, which expens
 will be levied and collected in tn
 same manner as your taxes
 In closing we herewith give you
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