San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-10-04
HOME BUILDERS
URGED TO GUT
FIRE HAZARD
Erect Fire-safe Home, Is
Slogan as Loss Rate
at SIG Per Second.

what Is the lesson OF National Fir,
Prevention Week to the prosperity
home builders and to those more close
ly connected with the building trades
1t is stated in the resolution passed
at the National Conference on HON,
Building which recently met in Chi
cago:
Whereas, the annual fire loss II
the United States has reached the rate
OF SIG per second, or SEQ. 900 per hour
Day and night. more than doubling in
the past decade. bringing American
losses to the total of 81 per capita
while those of England are 90 cents.
and
Whereas. this tremendous loss in
ftne United States has been estimated
to equal the cost Of a row of dwelling
houses 1000 miles long; and
whereas. the loss in human life
by fire exceeds $4,000 per annum, be
it hereby
Resolved, that this conference &C.
cord preference to fire-resistant meth
DDS and materials in the construction
OF American homes and dwellings"
BUILDER MUST HELP.
Statistics indicate that this prefer
ence. If generally adopted BY the
builders. will materially affect our ma
tlonal annual fire loss of $685. 3D.
~. The actuarial bureau of the
National Board of Fire Underwriters
reports that the number of claims
made on fire insurance companies as
result of fires in dwellings classi-
fies as follows: frame houses. 162. 421
claims: brick dwellings, 1881: fire
proof homes, 2S2.
This means that the number of
fires in frame houses is five times
the number OF those in brick dwellings,
ana 666 times the number of those in
iireproof homes. The number of fires
IN orlck houses is 133 times the num-
Der OF those in fireproof houses.
Yet we. as a people, go on building
homes that represent the maximum
IRE hazard. The division of building
and housing of the United States De-
partment OF Commerce tells us that
there are 20,697, 204 dwelling houses
IN the United States and that 1891
per. cent of them. 17,247,67O, are Of
ordinary wood frame construction.
Supporting this general conclusion. the
United States Geological Survey. in 2
publication on Building Opera tons
N the Larger Cities in 1910" made
this observation
BUILD TO BURNe
Tn the larger cities, where II would
be expected that wooden constructor
would be limited, both by eYnediencv
ana by law, nearly three-fourths of the
a 1o Of all new buildings erected in
1913 were Of wood, and only "a per
cent OF concrete, and 0.4 per cent of
steel skeleton construction.
Commenting on this condition. Vir-
yil Q. Marani, former building com
missioner OF the city OF Cleveland.
member of the American Society of
Civil Engineers, the National Fire
protection Association. the British
Fire Prevention committee, the Society
Advocating Fire Elimination. and
other technical organizations, recently
wrote IN Engineering World:
with an annual fire loss Of con-
siderably more than half-a-billion dol
lars, and the consequent tax levy to
install and maintain adequate fire
departments and fire fighting anna
ratus, a new slogan for America
might be-'We Build to Burn"
BUILD FIRE-sAFE."
Build fire-safe," is the slogan
which experts advise in place of that
suggested by Mr.. Marani. In its
Code Of Suggestions for Construction
and Fire Protection" the National
Board of Fire Underwriters points
out that "the cost Of structural fire
barriers necessary for reasonable pro.
lection to a dwelling house amounts 10
but small percentage Of the total cost
of the building. For this reason it is
hoped that architects and owners will
adopt them, once their attention is d.
rected TO the reduced hazard resulting
from a little intelligent thought and
care"
Development Of the modern build.
ing materials industry makes this
practicable-and economical-to the
home-builder Of average means. Gyp-
sum is one, but only one, of the nom
metallic minerals that are now being
used, not to eliminate wood, but to
encase and protect wood in such
manner as to increase its fire-resist-
ance, permanence. structural strength
and insulation value.
Thus, il now is possible to sheath
the outside of the stud framework of a
dwelling with a fireproof of gypsum
sheathing lumber at a less cost than
ordinary highly inflammable sheathing