New Britain herald., 1919-05-21

. show that the work tends to reduce ] the number of fires
 l Fire Methods and Drills. l Captains of the fire companies have | met during the winter to discuss nre | fighting methods and to consider l problems. Captain Barnes has intro 1 duced set of uniform knots and ties 1 and all members of the department have been instructed in their use. Captain Barnes will be in full charge of the drills hereafter and more pro- | ficiency may be expected.
 Serving and Saving for City. Members of the department nave 1 employed themselves in various kinds 1 of work. Improvements during the year and the value of the work done, 1 which would otherwise have had to l be paid for amounts to s250. The ! work has been most cheerfully done 1 and it was performed with the skill of
 trained tradesmen The work of the f1remen in fire service throughout the year has been of the usual good order.
 Fire losses were kept at 8. low figure by reason of the efficiency of the men and their cheerful and willing work.
 Increase in Force. The permanent force of the depart
 ment was increased by the addition of
 five men during the year and it will
 shortly be further increased by the
 addition of two more.
 With the st-traveling motors 1t is essential that the men to handle the equipment should be ready to go with the apparatus. A study of the re- Sponse of the callmen was made and showed that the callmen were at the scene of fires from three to ten min utes after the bell sounded at 60 per cent. of the fires. The average time
 of arrival of callmen at fires is about
 ten minutes after the bell sounds. The
 first few minutes of the fire are the
 most important and it is then that
 men are most needed.
 The permanent force of the depart
 ment should be at least 64 men which
 would give an average of eight men
 to 8 company. With each man en- titled to one day in seven, the force
 is reduced to seven; and during the
 meal hours the force drops to five men covering a period of nine hours.
 The permanent force of the depart
 ment today is 47 men,
 Fire Alarm.
 Five additional fire alarm boxes were added to the system during the
 past year and the system is being con-
 stantly added to.
 The increase in boxes means an ad-
 diton to the load on the system The
 city is laid out with six circuits and as there are now about 100 boxes on the lines, the circuits are much over crowded. The breaking of wire in the center means that one-sixth of the city is cut off from the service until repairs are made.
 The central station equipment should be located in fireproof build ing in order to insure service. We are hopeful that through the provision of the charter amendmen it will be possible to erect a 1reproof building and install the larger equip ment necessary to esta blish 12-cir- cult system in the city and to install lead cable in the subway district The installation of lead cable will be an economy and assure elimination of trouble. The fire alarm system as 1t 1 is today was probably adequate for a city of 19,000 and was the best to be had New Britain has spread out and is today a city of 6O,O0O, and practically the only change has been the placing of wires underground and the adding of boxes. The changes which we contemplate provide for the division of the city into 12 circuits and is so designed that as the city grows the number of circuits can be further increased.
 New Fire Station. The erection of another fire sta ton , in the city is essential. The railroad l tracks and the movement of trains 1 are hindrance to positive prompt re- | SpOnsc for alarms to the southern part ] of the city. No. company serves ] the southeastern section of the city I well. No. company has to he de- l pended upon practically alone for the ] southern and southwestern sections ' In these sections there are six build ! ings housing 135 orphan children: the 1 average number of patients in the hos pital is 70, and usually about ten in ] fants; at the Erwin Home there is an average of 3S inmates-women ! over 70 years of age.
 l There are 3S62 children in schools ! in the section which a new fire sta ! tlon in the southeastern section of 1 the city would serve. The number of 1 fires in that section of the city is in 1 creasing. Using the railroad tracks ana Maln street TOT dividing lines, the l number of fires in the four sections of l the city the past two years was as 1 follows:
 1 1916-17 1917-18 1 Northwestern .. 51 63
 Northeastern .... 59 ss i Southeastern .... 53 6s
 Southwestern 55 67 No. company, temporarily To- l