Evening star., 1926-04-30
ADOPTS NEW PLAN
IN FIRE FIGHTING
100 Miles High-Pressure
Water Mains Installed for
New York SkyscraperS.

. The immensely valuable skyscraper
sdistrict living south of Thirty-fourth
gstreet. on Manhattan Island, New
York has not required the services of
q. FIRE engine for more than Is years.
! MANY wears ago II WAS realized by
fcity officials that the eXtraordinafN
sconsestion prevalent in that section OF
the city was making the efficient fight
ling of fires a most impossible, ana
that the facilitles for pumping water
sbv fire engine were so cumbersome
iae to be almost Intellectual in the case
sof a large confagration.
i The result was a decision 10 install
n network of approximately 100 mlIeS
of high pressure water mains. supplied
from two central pumping stations.
New York is the only city in the world
so euuipped. and city officials declare
Its value in protecting property val
tues and human lives has been proved
time and again.
/ Locations of Pumping Stations.
] One Of these pumping stations Is To-
Gated on the North River and supplies
the west side of the hlch-presure
zone; the other. of equal size. supplies
the zones eastern area. Each station
acontainS electrically driven motor
pumps with the necessary equipment
for automatic and safe operation. each
being 500 horsepower and capable OF
delivering 5000 gallons Of water
minute under pressure of goo
pounds. Thus ii will he seen that the
two stations can deliver q total of
: SO. 900 gallons of water at this tire
'mendous pressure.
During 1924 there were 21,0a0 fires
in the city. resulting in loss ap-
preaching $50, ,00N. 900. According TO
former Fire Chief Croker. the fate Of
fire depends upon the first three
minutes. In contrast with the time an
engine takes to he put in operation
At fire, compare this system. under
which the pumps start automatically
and are running At full capacity with
in 80 seconds. This makes an un-
limited supply Of water Immediately
available at 200 hydrants in the dis
trict.
Capacity Established.
An idea of the capacity Of the system
may be gained by the test made when
1T was first completed. Al that time
50 streams of water each carrying
full capacity. were shot into the air
to height of 250 feet. For a short
time after its introduction II was
customary to bring fire engines to the
1Hre. I6dT1nR the new f1etnm HlRHt
mot be successful. Reporting a serious
fire in 1909. the newspapers mentioned
the presence Of so fire engines stand
ing idly by with nothing to do.
Each Of these pumping stations is
connected with the great electric
generating plants on the river front of
the city. where huge turbines trans
form water and coal into electricity.
The connections to the pumping sta
tions are made by four individual
power lines. each of which can care
for the whole power needs of the sta,
ton.
. Each Follows Different Route.
Each of the cables follows a different
route to the pumping station so that
should there he some disturbance 1t
could not cause sn interruption in the
pumping stations There Is. further
more, a fine on the power company of,
$500 a minute II ever the service
should fail. Though It has been oper
ating for more than IS years, there
has never been ar interruption.