FIRE BRIGADE TESTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 17

FIRE BRIGADE TESTS.

PLANT- CONSIDERED GOOD, i

The Dunedin Fire Board, keenly alive to the responsibilities of its charge, on the 10th inst. had an effective trial made of the hose at the Dunedin Central Fire Station. The test, as some people might have imagined, was in no 6ense one of the capabilities of the Dunedin Fire Brigade or it* general working — a&, pending" the completion of final arrangements by the board, such a test would be impracticable,,— but simply to " place ' the members of the Fire Board in fwU .- possession "of all facts as to quantity and quality of the fire hose now in use at the Central Station-, At three minutes *to " 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Mj: F. G. Cray, chairman, oi the Dunedin Fire Board, rang up the Central Station from the board office in Crawford 6treet. "Come at once to Neill's Bond 'in Crawford street." was the request, and then, in company with insurance agents, city councillors, and others, the members of the board stood at the corner of Water and Crawford streets and awaited the arrival of the brigade. _ It may be here mentioned that Superintendent Mitchell only was aware of the fact that a test was to take place, and that makes yesterday's trial in every way a reliable one as to the true standing of the brigade in the matter of equipment .that would be brought put in the case of the usual unexpected call. Within two minutes of the receiving of the alarm the two-horse reel bore down into Crawford street at. a gallop, and was followed shortly by , the one-horse eel, and then some minutes later by the North Dunedin reel. A halt was made in Crawford street opposite Neill's Bond, which building was the scene of a supposed conflagration. With quick despatch eight leads were »un out — six from Crawford street, and two from Vogel street. — and within a few minutes eight nozzles were throwing water to a height of from 30ft to 40ft. with an estimated pressure of 1201b to the square inch. Some 2000 ft of leather hose in all was run outr, and when the water was turned on generally speaking the hose stood the test well. At the time of the test there was, in addition to the 2000 ft of leather hose taken out. 500 ft of new canvas hose and about 1000 ft of leather hose in the station, the latter being of secondclass quality.

It must be 6tated that the test was carried out under somewhat adverse condi- | tione.. in. so far as the water supply was concerned. The pressure was one of only . 1201b to the square inch. That was due to the fact that practically only the Ross j Creek reservoir was being drawn on,, the ' Silverstream being shut off. also the Maori Hill. In the event of a fire, the supply from these two reservoirs would bo brought into use. all the available water concen- i trated in the locality of the fire, and, we are assured, there would be on hand a pressure of un to 2301b to the square inch. '■ At the conclusion of the test in Crawford street, two leads were connected on to the ' 9in main in Lower High street in front of Messrs Sargood's warehouse, and tests made there showed the pressure to be about the same as that obtained in Crawford street, if not a shade better. Speaking to a Times reporter at the conclusion of the test Mr F. G. Cray (chairman of the Fire Board) said the tpst was not for the purpose of checking thp efficiency of the brigade. It was really to ascertain the condition of the hose so as to take steps to provide against a calamity j in the event of a fire starring in the city. ( " I am satisfied that upwards of 2000 feet , of leather ho«e. that shown and used to- ' day, is in good condition, and will be thoroughly serviceable for fire purposes. There is a further quantity of 6econd-class leather hose on hand. Only a sample of it was produced to-day, and while it could not serve the purpose of fire checking in the fifrst stages it would be useful for pur- , poses of sub-leads. In addition to the ' leather hoee- the Fire Board has recently . obtained 500 ft of canvas hose, and a reoom-'| men-elation is coming before the board 1 at its meeting, this week to obtain & further j

supply of 1000 ft of canvas hose. In my opinion, however, the board should consider the question of obtaining at least 1000 ft of firstclass leather Jiose,' in addition to the hose now in use. ( at the station and in course of purchase^"