FIRE PREVENTION

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 59, 1 June 1927, Page 12

FIRE PREVENTION

SOME HOME REMEDIES. THINGS WORTH KNOWING. In spite of modern methods and up* to-date appliances, there is always the possibility of fire in every home, and it is the gravest and most dreaded danger the householder has to face. A moment’s carelessness, and pouf ! —the proud result of years of infinite toil and striving vanish in clouds of smoke. “Prevention is better than cure,” is a singularly apt precept in this case, and small precautions in the first place are often the means of saving a great deal of remorse and expense later on. It may be worth your while to study these few hints. In rooms or places where there are flimsy decorations such as screens, lanterns, etc., a fireproof solution applied to hangings, carpets, etc., is very useful. This may be made of ammonium borate and potassium carbonate in the proportions of three of the former to nine of the latter, mixed thoroughly together in 50 parts of water. Materials covered with this will not burn if placed in contact with a naked flame. It should be remembered that w'ater is not by any means the best medium for lire extinguishing. In some instances it is worse than useless. Sand is one of the safest materials, and a bag should always be kept to hand where petrol is stored. Householders and others of a chemical or cautious turn of mind can easily manufacture a home-made fire extinguisher. Twenty pounds of common salt and ten lb of sal-ammoniac dissolved in six to seven gallons of water make a very useful mixture. This should be very tightly sealed in bottles or evaporation will occur. There are many makes of fireproof paints on the market. A good homemade one is composed .of one lb of blacklead, four ounces of patent driers, and lib of gilder’s whiting. These materials are ground together in linseed oil. Wood covered with this material will be impervious to flying sparks. A fireproof whitewash is made by mixing ten parts of whitewash with two parts of silicate of soda, and adding a small solution of alum to prevent rubbing off.

Should a fire break out in one of the rooms of a house and be discovered before it has had time to get a serious hold, it is well to remember that a soda-water siphon will be of use. It forms a powerful syringe, and the carbonic acid gas helps to quell the llames. A garden syringe may be employed, as it is infinitely better to get a forceful jet of water directly on the fire than to merely upset the contents of buckets over it. All windows and doors should be closed. Blankets or rugs should be immersed in water and used to smother the flames. If possible this immersion should be done in a hath so that the material is thoroughly saturated. This is important as it adds very considerably to the preventive power of heavy fabrics. As previously mentioned, sand is a very satisfactory material for fire extinguishing, as it does less damage to surrounding objects than water. Anxiety for the welfare of one’s rugs and blankets is futile in times of fire, and the householder must always remember hat his house is more valuable to him than one or two of the tilings that are n it.