DANGER FROM CAR GAS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19997, 24 July 1939, Page 14

DANGER FROM CAR GAS

GARAGES IN DWELLINGS PRECAUTIONS IN CITY To minimise danger from fumes likely to cause fire or poisoning, garages erected in future in Christchurch as part of the actual construction. of a house, will have to have their walls and ceilings made ot brick, stone or concrete. The Christchurch City Council has decided to draft a by-law providing that where garages are incorporated in or added to houses the construction should be on those lines.

The council's housing and town planning committee recently sought ;he advice of the medical officer of health, Dr. T. Fletcher Telford, on the problem. lie stated his opinion that garages attached to houses i should be constructed of concrete or • f made of wood that the garage should be lined with impervious material thoroughly scaled at all joints, to prevent entry in o tire space between the studs or the underflooring of the room located above ii Dr. Telford also stated that every garage, connected to a house or built separately, should have ample ventilation. He attached his own views about the generation of gases in garages,- and also an extract of an American publication, from the Laboratory of Applied Physiology, Yale University, stating: "A rough I estimate o f the volume oi car bon ■monoxide that an automobile may I produce is one cubic foot. (28 litres) a minute- ocr 20 horse-power. This is sufficient to render the atmosphere of u " K ;ngle car garage deadly within five minutes, if the engine is run while l the* garage doors are closed. .