Evening star., 1924-04-11
WARNING OF FIRE
HAZARD IN SCHOOLS
BRINGS NO. ACTION
Report From Seib Cites Neg
Ieci of Recommendation
Made Two Years Ago.

wv WI " FhSSs
No definite steps have been taken
to eliminate any fire hazards in the
District public schools, which were
strikingly outlined to the board of
education nearly two weeks ago in
report submitted by Fire Marshal
Seib, it was learned today.
When the report was submitted to
the board on April it was perused
hastily by officials and referred to
the boards committee on buildings,
grounds and equipment. Ernest
Greenwood, chairman OF the commit
tee, plans to ask the board at its
next meeting. Wednesday, to send
the report back to the District build
ing to have an estimate made of the
cost to remedy the conditions de-
scribed by the fire marshal.
1t is pointed out in the report that
recommendations made a year ago by
the fire department. have been ig-
nored, either in whole or in part. The
necessity for better fire protection in
the Central High School auditorium
also is stressed.
Report Was Withheld.
Although the inspection of school
buildings by the fire department and
building inspection Office is an annual
function, the Commissioners and 9TH
or officials at the District building
made no public announcement of the
results, on the ground that they felt
it was due as courtesy to the school
board not to divulge the report. at
the District building. The school
board apparently took the same posi-
tion, and in Consequence the report
has Just leaked OUT" despite the
boards efforts to censor news items.
and some difficulty was experienced
today at the District building TO ob-
After describing in detail the con-
ditions found by the fire inspectors in
each of the school buildings, the re-
port summarizes as follows:
Cites Serious Hazards.
Conditions at the various schools
in the District of Columbia have i'm
nroyed to a considerable extent since
the previous inspection was made
There, however, still remains some
serious fire hazards and other condi-
tions which should be remedied, espe-
ciaIly in a number of the storage
rooms and quarter occupied by the
janitors."
'cAll surplus and discarded furniture
discarded supplies, waste paper, trash
and other combustible material should
be removed from the Easements and
from under the stairways. Whilst the
stairwayS are freproof, they are not
smokeproof. In most cases they are
made of caSt-iron, and the treadS are
merely laid on top of the carriages and
risers and secured by a few bolts, leav-
ing open joints through which smoke
could easily issue, and should this, even,
happen it would have a strong tendency
to create panic amongst the pupils. 1t
would be advisable to wall in the under
side of all stairways SO that inflammable
articles cannot be stored there.
Recommendations Not Followed.
.'The discarded and surplus furni-
ture and discarded supplies should be
stored in one or more central storage
buildings. Recommendations were
made to this effect in previous re-
ports. but only in a few instances
some of these instances, but to a
limited extent, although on March
"a 1922, a circular letter was issued
by the superintendent of schools di-
recting that such articles should be
removed from under the stairwayS.
The old Potomac school building and
the building located at 136 X street
northeast, now being used as storage
tonSac could accom- m ndate some of IL
THE storing of furniture in the
basement of schools not only creates
a fire hazard. but it is an expensive
practice. 1t makes it an easy prey for
the children; dust and dirt from the
accumulate on it, which in
creases the fire hazard, and it is more
or less knocked about.
Paper Storage Dangerous.
AT present the waste paper is
gathered and put in burlap bags, and
is later collected by the city refuse
Storing paper in burlap
bags is very unsafe and likely to cause
fire at any moment. This was evil
denced by two fires that recently oc-
Cured in schools. one in the Stevens
and the other in the Armstrong,
where considerable damage was done.
Each OF these fires was caused by the
storage OF waste paper in bags. 1t
was recommended in the previous
report, and it is again recommended,
that waste paper and trash should
not be permitted to accumulate in
school buildings without making
some safe provision to keep 1t until
disposed Of"
The voluminous report deals princi-
pally with the need for fireproof
doors and transoms to prevent fire
from spreading to different parts of
the buildings, particularly basement
doors One of it's features deals with
the necessity for better fire protec-
ton in the assembly hall of Central
High School, which, the report states,
contains the largest stage in the city.
Installation of q steel fire curtain, as
required by theaters, is recommended.
together with a sprinkler system and
other less important improvements.
The report ALSO refers to conditions
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