WORK OF FIRE BRIGADES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1560, 2 October 1912, Page 6

WORK OF FIRE BRIGADES.

DECREASE;IN ACTUAL FIRES. Tho report of the Inspector of Fire Bri» gades (Mr. T. T. Hugo) x for the' year ended Juno 30, presented to tTie House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, states that tho total number of calls received during the twelve months was HSG, a. decrease of 55 when compared with the number in the provious year, and the total number of actual fires—3l7—shows a decrease of 19. There has been a considerable increase in tho number of fires returned as due to incendiarism, unknown Causes, and in unoccupied houses, the respective increases bcinjj nine, thirty-one, and seven. In the majority of the brigades a steady improvement, in tho discip. lino drill and method of work generally is evident, but the inspector emphasises the need for tho standardisation of appliance-?. v The fire calls were by no means equally distributed among the larger centres, for Christchurch, had- tho largo nuinlxr of 256, which included 150 false alarms, while Auckland had 164 calls, including 43 false alarms, and Dunedin 91 calls, including 20 false alarms. No statistics are given for Wollinuton, which is not a tiro board district. The actual firee, exclusive of cliimney, bush, grass, and rubbish fires, numb?r 347, of which 93 were in Christchurch, 77 in Auckland, and 50 in Dunedin. Causes wore recorded as unknown in 132 cases. Fifty-two fires were attributed to sparks from fireplaces, furnaces, copper fires, chimneys, and stove.'. Incendiarism was declared the cause of 21 fires, nine of which occurred in Christehnrch. Negligent use of candle* caused 19 fires. Carelessness in the use of benr-ne caused ten fires, and structural defects, fourteen. Children playing with matches, and matches gnawed by rats, thrown 'down alight or trodden upon caused 13 other fires. Men smoking in bed were responsible for 5 fires.