South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-05-18
c., B. 80. BUILDING
FIRE BRINGS OUT
IMPORTANT FACTS
Combination of Fire, Wind
and High Buildings Confla-
grafton Essentials.

CHICAGO H.. May 17-Varylng
suggestions relative TO future sky
scraper buildings offered by Chi
cago architects az the result OF Ere
damage here 90 the Chicago. Bur
lngten and Quincy railroad build
ing one OF the type known as hre-
proof agreed IN stressing fire pre-
vention more than FIRE proofng. F.
r Davidson. a leading architect,
went so far as 90 assert that "the
freproof building does not exist nor
can it be constructed" Richard E
Schmidt president OF the Chicago
Chapter OF the National Fire Pre-
vention Association. while asserting
that the fire proodng Of the Burling-
ton building halted the spread Of
fie TO othes buildings. and maintain
ing that uncomfortable floors and
fire proof furniture would have made
interior damage insignificant. urged
Limitation OF the height Of buildings
as Of first Importance. He was sup
ported IN the latter position by Allen
3 Bond who said "A great many Of
the more thoughtful architects build
very high buildings because they
nave 40. IT'D IlnlA tIlFlL LAtEIALar U4h
they do not approve"
There appears 90 be no POSSIBLE
ity." said Mr. Schmidt. "of building
pleasing. durable facades Of reason
ably priced materials which will not
suffer II attacked IN the same man
ner that the Burlington building
was" He commended on the other
hand that had the Burlington build
ing been lower. or had the street be-
tween # and the buildings in which
the fire started been as wide as the
Burlington building was high. the
flames and heat from the original
FIRE would have passed over IL.
IF a woodsman wishes TO build
r , on a windy day" Mr.. Schmidt
~ =. ''he seeks a place against a rock
or a large tree trunk on its wind
ward side. for he knows that he can
kindle a quicker and hotter FIRE II
he can back IL up with a wall That
combination Of back wall fire and
wind is exactly what existed In Chi
oago when the Burlington Office
building was damaged A strong wind
blew the fire Of the Austin and other
buildings against the Burlington
building. which formed the back
wall OF a huge fireplace. The wind
furnished plenty OF oxygen. also
power 10 direct the flames against
the Burlington building. like a gi-
gautic blow-pipe or gasoline torch.
There was not power enough IN
the wind 10 blow the flames horizon
tally and these would probably not
nave set fire TO the Burlington Build
ing II il had been only as high as
the width of the street. or slightly
higher.
Does this not Indicate that our
high buildings are toe high for the
streets. or that the sire cts were de-
signed for lower buildings This
appears TO be of the soundest rea-
sons for limiting construction OF ex-
cessively high buildings"
Building ordinances generally
should be mandatory in requiring
that all elevators and stairways
should be enclosed. 80 said Mr.. David
son. Had the stairs and elevators
OF the Burlington Building not been
enclosed the building undoubtedly
would have been wrecked"
Mr Davidson said that certain
devices which he held could not re-
sist the radiant heat engendered IN
a general conflagration were only
worth while I'm the case OF local
fires" He concluded that architects
and engineers must devote more
thought to fire prevention than 20
fire proofing.
A case Of water proofing was pre-
sented by Mr. schmidt IN the state
ment that the Burlington building
stopped further spread OF the fire
and thus proved that buildings of
such construction protect their
neighbors. while buildings OF brick
and wood do not
Mr.. Schmidt took the position that
Chicago building managers and ten
ants are far behind the best prac-
tice" in floor building though the
city led the world" in high fire re-
sisting construction.