The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1919-10-09
FIRE PREVENTION
IS The ONLY
SAFE WAY

'ehtion uay! 10 teach the import
ance of protecting life and property
from fire, many of you have heard
the ancient adage, that What can't
be cured must be endured" Form
erly people felt in this way about
fire. They thought that if their
homes, their places of business, or
other property were burned up, the
fire should be considered in the light
of an unavoidable accident. In Eur
ope however. many governments
have had quite different attitude.
These government have maintained
/ that fire is matter of personal re-
. sponsibility and that II merits a per
sonal penalty as an offense against
the community. Recently several
American and Canadian cities have
! taken a similar stand. and many of
their residents whose property burns
because they have not observed the
fire prevention statues, are request
ed to pay the cost of extinguishing
such fires. This advanced step has
been made. possible because we know
today that most fires are prevent
able. and they usually result from
such careless acts as those of which
we are all guilty. We are beginning
to realize that careful person in a
/ wooden building is safer neighbor
than a careless individual in struc
ture OF stone.
Our annual fire waste totals nearly
three hndred million dollars Pro-
perty destroyed by fire represents
wasted material and labor, even
though the owner of the property
may be reimbursed for its money val
ne. The majority OF fires occur in
homes because of defective furnaces
and fires, smoking, open lights, the
ithoughtless use of electrical applian-
ces, stove pipes passing through al
tic or closets. careless handling OF
gasoline. or other causes that are
generally preventable.
Never forget that gasoline is too
dangerous to use without precau-
tions, for example. the vapor from
one gallon of gasoline, when mixed
with air. has an explosive force equal
to that of eighty-three pounds OF
dynamite. This will give you some
idea of its dangerous nature.
pile of rubbish offers fertile
opportunity for chance spark
while If oily matter is present there
is the additional hazard of spontan-
eous combustion.
Smoking is one of the most COM
mon causes OF fire, the property loss
each year from this habit running up
into the millions. Careless smokers
cast their cigarettes and cigar ends,
or pipe Goals into places where COM
bustible material is present and fire
Iensues. Think of It, the small plea
sure of smoking balanced. against
the destruction of millions.
There is another fire hazard that
must not be overlooked. and that is
steam pipes. the frightful Colling-
wood, Ohio, fire on March 4, 1908.
was started by a steam pipe igniting
a wooden joist and one hundred and
seventy-three children died in this
fire.
There Is another side OF the ques-
ton Of fire which is often overlooked
4 You may hear someone say I'm not
worrying about fire. carry insur-
ance." That person does not realize
that the insurance cost is necessarily
based upon the amount of fire haL-
ard, and That he is paying his share
of the expense of furnishing flnan-
cial protection.
We must look farther than the
mere money aspect of the situation
What of a mans moral responsible
ity for preventable fires? What
right has any man TO jeopardize the
lives and property of his neighbors
by neglecting to remove the hazards
about his home or store, that are
likely to cause fire at any time.
II 1.