The Lubbock avalanche. (Lubbock, Tex.) 1909-1922, 1918-12-12

Then he tosses his lighted cigarette
at the fireplace, misses it half foot,
and goes away he walks about the
ONE. the office. or the factor lea' p
ine % trail Of fire behind him ''st
Arrl carelessly dropped cigarette
butt cnused an explosion Of dus- IN a
warehouse and the destruction Of two
million dollars worth Of property \
tuo-nillion dollar cigarette!
The lighted cigarette, the dirty
chimney, the open-flame light the
rubbish pile. and many another con
spirator born Of carelessness or IN
ertia combine to destroy our sub
stance. Every week in the year we
average three theaters. three public
halls. twelve churches. ten schools
two hospitals, two asylums, two col
leges. three department stores. two
jails. twenty-six hotels. about one
hundred and fifty apartment. build
ings. and nearly sixteen hundred
dwelling houses burned No wonder
our professional fire departments are
so proficient and so wen developed ;
they get plenty Of practice,
In the past we have put our atten-
tion on fire-fighting rather than fire
prevention Few people realize that
when great conflagration has once
got full headway. nothing that man
can DO viii stop IL Such a fire as
that AZ Baltimore or San Francisco
has 20 burn out, or strike some nat
ural obstacle, or be thrown back by
a change Of wind, before there s
any hope Of extinguishing il.
In every city and every community
we need fire prevention bureau rs
well ss fire-fighting force II took
the Triangle fire to stir New York to
establish such an Institution there.
and the bureau Immediately showed
It's value by effecting a marked re-
duction in the number Of fires This
was done by iailing careless smokers.
removing dangerous rubbish. inspect
ing schools and sprinkler systems.
seeing that doors opened the right
way. and urging upon the people the
necessity Of care with fire. II ough,
not to be necessary to have a Triangle
fire in every community 10 make
people take 80 logical a step
Where the fire-fighting and fire
prevention forces can be consolidnt
ed AS Is tn, case on the National
Forests where the forest ranger Is
guard. fireman. and fire-prevention
propaganda all in one---the organ
ization is much simplified Our city
fire departments usually do a good
deal Of fire prevention work. but the
conditions are so complex. and the
facilities at their command so re
stricted. that their activities seldom
go beyond certain inspections and
the guarding Of theaters and the
like. The education Of the people
must be left to other agencies. The
National Fire Protection Association
ana similar organizations are spread.
ing the gospel in general way over
the country; but The great need IS To-
cal agencies to keep the citizens Of
each community informed of ways Of
preventing and combating fire. and
to point out how general principles
may be applied 10 the peculiar prob
lens of the locality
Spontaneous Combustion.
There Is one kind OF fire. in parti.
cular. toward which the public needs
to have its attitude changed. Fire
always has a mysterious quality.
When il is caused by spontaneous
combustion. il takes on an element of
the supernatural in the mind Of the
ordinary person. He is likely to re-
gard il an something which cannot be
guarded against. and which must be
accepted as an act OF Providence
Usually Il is simply another case Of
sheer carelessness or. more likely. ig-
norance.
A church burned down one night.
and the only explanation that could
be thought Of was spontaneous com.
bustion." The ladies who had work
ed hard to clean and polish up the
pews thought Il specially tough luck
but an investigation disclosed the
fact that they had used oiled rags.
and had closed them up tight in a
closet when they were through, Nav
oiled rags In tightly closed space
ars AZ much an lnvention of the fire
flsnd a. laes curtains near gas. let.
The explanation of spontaneous
combustion Il that vhsn exyssn II