FIRE CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 146, 16 March 1939, Page 11

FIRE CONTROL

Brigade Demonstrates At Exhibition IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY Elaborate Precautions Rehearsed Within five minutes of the alarm being- given, brigadesmen subdued an imaginary fire outbreak in the Centennial Exhibition buildings in .Rongotai yesterday. The spectacular demonstration was watched by about 100 leading Wellington business men, including directors of the Exhibition Company, insurance experts. and members of the Wellington Fire Board. Three engines were called out , and the actual measures for the suppression of a fire was rehearsed.

As in the case of an actual fir.c. the first thing done was to bring into action one of the hydraulic hoses let into the floors throughout the buildings, and able to be operated by any stallholder or other person on the scene of the outbreak.

Mr. 'S. S. Dean, manager of the

South British Insurance Company, and chairman of the Wellington Fire

Board, then pressed a wall fire

alarm, and the screaming of a siren was heard outside as the special Exhibition Fire Brigade arrived with their engine. Brigadesmen, helmeted

and uniformed and bearing powerful modern water-guns, .burst in through doors on the south and east sides of the court. Within 70 seconds of the alarm being given a powerful jet of water was leaping across the hall, with a range of 100 feet. A few seconds later a second came into play from the other door.

Meantime the rising cresendo of an approaching engine was heard from the Constable Street, station, and before three minutes bad elapsed its crew of firemen had entered on the west side of the court, and brought a further three hoses to bear. There were now five high-pressure jets playing on the supposed fire, each at the rate of ISO gallons a minute. Maelstrom of Water. Almost at the same time, the Miramar engine arrived, and its contingent brought into action two further jets from the south door. The court was filled with at maelstrom of hurtling water, which no fire could possibly have survived. Superintendent C. A. Wooley explained that this was the minimum that could be applied to any fire at the exhibition. When the reflecting pools and ornamental lakes were filled it would be possible, with the brigade’s powerful pumps, to bring 16 jets of water into action, and to double the water supply provided by the ordinary reticulation system.

He said the measures taken to prevent fire in the 15-acre wooden buildings ranged from two-gallon soda-acid extinguishers to high-power jets from the apparatus of the brigadesmen stationed permanently in the grounds. In the buildings were installed 30 hydraulic hose reels, able to be used by any stallholder and marked by red lamps above their situations. All that was necessary to use them was to run some of the 120 feet of hose out and turn the tap on the nozzle. The alarm was automatically sounded from the reel.

In addition, mains were laid throughout the grounds, with hydrants at key points able to supply 550 gallons a minute. Water curtains from the roof would be used to isolate the Are.

Early Call Assured.

•As the object was to ensure the earliest, possible alarm being given, in addition to the alarms in the hosereels, 15 manual fire alarms were installed. inside the principal entrances, and the number would be eventually increased to 21. The brigade was thus assured of an early call. The three brigades—Constable Street, Miramar and the exhibition’s own brigade—would be available within a minute or two.

Two types of fire-screen were demonstrated, to enable a decision to be made as to which sort was more effective. Both were based on the principle of a high-pressure pipe led across the ceiling of the court and perforated at frequent intervals. One, however, simply threw a curtain of water immediately beneath it; the other was on the garden-sprinkler principle, and released a diffused spray, drenching a very much wider area. Spectators were profoundly impressed by the demonstration, and the speedy measures and thorough precautions being taken to eliminate fire danger. The smart, work of the brigadesmen was the subject of comment.

(Pictures on page 7.)