Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-07-17
A WARNING TO OTHER CITIES

Immed;a.e.y following the Atlanta
confiagration of May 81. 1917, the
Committee on Fire Prevention, of the
National Board of Fire Underwriters,
dispatched one of its most expert
enced engineers to the stricken city
in order to make a close study OF
the characteristics of the fire, the
causes to which it was due, and the
lessons which might be deduced from
it. His report, which has been eager
ly awaited in technical circles, mas
just been published for limited free
circulation. Its great value consists
in the fact that the Atlanta conf1agra-
ton should serve as a warning TO
hundreds of other American cities,
where confagration conditions now
exist
The report finds that the Atlanta
disaster was essentially "shlngle
roof confagration of the familiar
type: it notes that the fire department
rendered excellent service although
somewhat handicapped by lack of mo-
tor apparatus, insufficient reserve
supply of hose, and unpaved streets
at certain points; it refers to the val
lie of high preSsures" on the water
system, commends the assistance rem
dered by military organizations, ques-
lions the utility of the dynamlting OF
buildings, and records the fact that
some of the hose sent from nearby
cities could not be used through lack
of standardized couplings. The re-
ports greatest emphasis, however, is
laid upon bad roofing conditions,
saI, cd IN in tho follow
ing statement:
Effect of Wooden Single Roofs
"This confagration, together with
two of the other fires occurring at
the same time, emphasizes the ease
with which spreading fires may de-
velop in cities where wooden shingle
roofs predominant, even when the fire
department is mainly well equipped
and manned 1t illustrates the start
ling suddenneSS with which such a
fire may grow into a conflagration
under favorable conditions.
For a period of eight hours, the re-
naming part of the city, including
the business district, was practically
without fire protection. A shift of the
wind during the progress of the fire
would have resulted in a correspond
ing change of the path of devastation,
and might have involved the business
district, where the high values of the
city exist; for it would have been i'm
possible to stop the spread through
the shingle-roof area, which even now
extends to the edge of that district"
AS already stated, the chief value of
such an analysis consists in the posi-
81 q 70 of1 9TH
Ten years ago, the United States Geo
logical Survey, after an exhaustive
study, made this statement:
1.-THE danger Of confiagration is
present in every city and village of
the United States, and with it the pos
sibility of large loss of life. The most
efficient fire department in the coun-
try. is powerless when once a fire
gets under considerable Roadway in a
locality where bad construction pre-
walls"
This statement is largely true to-
day. A few cities have taken steps
to reduce their hazard, but the vast
majority are heedlesSly waiting for
their own CONGREGATIONS sto occur
CONGREGATIONS are not necessary
evils. They may be avoided by the
mere taking of proper precautions.
National Board engineers have made
exhaustive surveys of more than three
hundred leading American cities, and
in each case have worked out plans
which, if adopted, would provide for
their safety Their report on San
Francisco conditions, published six
months before the great confiagration,
contained these words
''San Francisco has violated all I'M
derwriting traditions and precedents
by not burning up"
Similarly, National Board reports
contained specific warnings of the dis
asters of Salem, Chelsea, Augusta, At
lanta, and many other cities. Special
attention was called to Pittsburgh's
most dangerous block eighteen
months before the January, 1917, fire
which destroyed it. Five and a half
months before the January, 1917, fire
in Hartford, it's exact site was specif-
ically pointed out upon the map of the
National Board report. Similar full
filments have occurred in dozens of
other cases. They are sure to oc-
cur in countless cases in the future
until American municipalities learn
to take advantage of the expensive
lessons of their stricken sister cities.
No one can tell where the next
great confiagration will occur, but it
is safe to prophesy that it will take
place In a negligent city.