CARELESS FIRES.

Shannon News, 13 September 1927, Page 2

CARELESS FIRES.

RIFE LAST YEAR. “Carelessness was very rife in the fires of 1926,” said Captain T. Hugo (Inspector of Fire Brigades) at the Wanganui Fire Brigade’s re-union, when he stated the losses by fire for last year were the heaviest ever experienced. The final figures were not yet completed, but he could say the total was somewhere about £250,000, if not more. About 240 fires were caused by the careless use of matches, and electric irons, and by smoking. These were some of the dangers civilisation had brought with it. Electric irons had caused losses amounting to £IO,OOO. Captain Hugo produced from his pocket a type of match that he said was very dangerous. These were'made of cardboard composition and enclosed in a folder. The speaker struck one and showed how the match would smoulder for some moments after being blown out. Many years ago wax matches were prohibited in New York State and they were still under a ban in some States of America and Australia. Wanganui deserved credit, he said, for the fact that out of 26 *new installations of automatic fire alarms during the year, eight had been, made in this city. This was a step in the right direction, said the speaker, and the greatest safeguard the community could have, lay in automatic alarms and sprinklers. Returns showed there was a 5 to 6 per cent, loss on property protected in this manner, as against 50 per cent, on unprotected propel ty. This was not the only loss, as the dislocation of business had to be considered. It was a pity that more business firms did not recognise the great value of private alarms.