Milford chronicle., 1937-10-29
WINNING ESSTYS ON
FIRE PREVENTION

The following two essays writer
by two girls in the Milford Junior.
Senior High School were selected al
winners In the Fire Prevention Con.
test sponsored by The Milford Ice
G. Coal Company.
The prizes were offered for the best
essay written by boy and girl In
grades 10. IL, IL and the best essay
written by boy and girl in grades
z, s and ..
Next week the winners of the boys
division will be printed.
FIRE PREVENTION
Fire is word that means so much
to us. Yet the American peoples dis
regard for fire as a menace has
brought about a very deplorable con-
dition which cannot be altered until
the American people realize and cor
rect their mistakes. We say we are
civilized, but are we IL we refuse to
listen to reason. to remedy our err
tOhbs AtOr VIC diC hOts 0ulCty IL 10
not necessary to learn from expert
ence, since such lessons are often
very cruel ones. l am assured that
the majority of us are able to real
ize the dreadful accidents that can
occur from fire thought under con-
troll or fire in places not thought
probable. When this subject Is IN
troduced, one notices that the gen.
eral oponion is that fire presention
is splendid thing. but one also
notices that no actions, or very few,
seem to accompany the words. What
good are the words without action?
It is possible we do not realize the
seriousness of uncontrolled fire.
Maybe this will be a stronger way of
reminding us our duty in connection
with fire prevention. There are over
10000 lives lost yearly as result of
fires. Does that mean anything to
us? Think, over 10000 lives yearlyl
Now, don't you think something
should be done to prevent fires?
Otherwise. one of us might be the
next victim. Although it may not be
one of us, it may be someone very |
dear to US. Do we want them to die |
a horrible death merely because we |
refused to make certain our homes |
would not encourage destructive |
fires? Mo- OF course not! Instead |
let us do everything in our power |
to combat destructive fires. Let us
do more than see that our town has |
good fire laws and an excellent fire |
department.
This is another condition which
has received very little attention.
The United States of America has
greater fire loss yearly than any
other country. If the total amount of
the damages was evenly divided
among the people of the country,
there would be five dollars for each
person. Just think of that! With
that entire amount of money, we
could build and support hospitals,
charities. and schools over and over
again. l think that we do not real
ize that although as a person we
may not have been affected directly
by fire. indirectly. we contribute our
share. = - -t'
Likely we are beginning to appre-
ciate the seriousness of uncontrolled
fire and now wish to remedy this sit
uation. If so, let us examine our :
homes and ask first these questions,
since these questions indicate fire.
luent causes of fire: Has the cleo
.rician inspected our homes recent
y? This is important, because many ,
Tres are started by improper wiring |,
ind frayed ends of electric cords rub ,,
,ing against inflammable materials :
iuch as rugs. Are we positive match
IS are kept in containers and out of /,
each of children or mice and away
rom the heat of the stove or stove
,ipe? If we were to allow a small
hild to play near matches, he would,
Il course, desire to play with the
matches and might cause not only the
of the home, but also the
estruction of himself. Do we care
essly throw lighted matches or Gig :
rettes to the ground? Although =
re may not realize, many terrible =
Drest fires have been caused by such = =
n act. Do our chimneys contain sep =,
rate flues for each fireplace? Are =
hey cleaned out regularly? The :,
iilure to do this has been the great = :.
oI CduoC VI HI CO. aIC VIC
areful when burning rubbish? All =,
{ us should realize that it is dan :
erous to burn rubbish on a windy /,
ay or in dry grass or dry leaves. !,
o we dip oiled rags or mops in -
etal container? If they are not ..
spt in metal container, they can =
cry easily cause spontaneous conf
lstion. Do our homes contain fire :,
and does everybody in ~
e household know how to operate en-,
em? This is important since 1t Is -.
,ssible to stop small fires i'm ..
with their use. Particular "
tention should be given to the No
oper answering of these questions
cause they indicate the most fire. n,
lent causes of fires. large and small. -
The answering of the following bu
estions correctly is also very i'm be
rtant, although these questions do on
t indicate frequent causes of fires
do the previous ones. When. we So
e gas or kerosene oil, are we con- tr,
ent that it receives the correct
age? Both have very low kindling fie
ints and should be used very care in,
lly. Are equlck-Durning materials' ini
ch as excelsior, oily waste, or kero- :
ne used in starting a fire? Such
e may quickly get out of control.
oo tha va,uf.p do{uO fha noakinp ,