FIRE WASTE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19137, 21 October 1927, Page 8

FIRE WASTE.

i N.Z.'S BIG LOSS. SYSTEMATIC EDUCATION"'URGED [THE PRESS Special Service.] WELLINGTON. October .'O. The annual report ot the Inspector or i'ii-o Brieades (Mr T. T. Hugo) was presented to Parliament to-day. l» c inspector states: — -Vhc estimated total population ot New Zealand on March .Jlst last num-ben-d 1,137.900, and ot that total -I-31. 'M0, or 37.5 I>lt cent., are resident in the lire districts. The insured hrc loss throughout the whole ot the V»iniuioii .'or the twelve months ended December 31st, 19:2(5. amounted to l T T>9,2.j7. The proportionate loss m Urn fortv-six lire district* for the corresponding twelve months was £301,4.i_, or 13s oA per capita, and the insured loss in the rest of the Dominion (i.e., loss in fire districts deducted from the total) amounted to £7(3-1,52-3. or lis Id per capita. The lire waste throughout New Zealand for the year 1926 is estimated at .Cl.-2ijl.7GiJ, or l.s 7d pelhead of population, which amount is most probably an underestimate of the actual loss. "\s will lie seen from the foregoing: iigures the fire loss in New Zealand is assuming a very serious aspect indeed. The carelessness in regard to tiro exhibited in this Dominion is becoming more and more rife, as witness the number of outbreaks (227) under the headings of lighted matches, cigarette butts, electric irons and live ashes thrown out—practically sheer carelessness in every case. In addition to the above there are the 171 bush, gorse, and rubbish fires, some deliberate, hut very many due to tho rarcless use of matches. 'There- were 90 tires due to sparUs from fireplaces and copper fires. There aie tho 40!) tires returned as •cause unknown' in which the tiro has destroyed all evidence of its origin, without doubt many of them duo to one or other of tho causes set down above. "In this matter of carelessness the best remedy is systematic education in liro prevention matters in our schools. I would advocate_ tho adoption of the system in vogue in the United States of America and Canada, where instruction in fire prevention for one hour .per month is compulsory in their State schools and colleges. In this connexion I ain in receipt of a communication from a schoolmaster in the Auckland province, who is also an active member of a volunteer fire brigade in his town, in which is set out in five short lectures or lessons most valuable instruction in fire prevention. The lessons, whilst comprehensive, are simple and concise, c|iiite on the best lines I have yet seen, and I would strongly recommend the lessons he made part of the curriculum of all schools in New Zealand."