FIRE BRIGADES OF THE DOMINION (REPORT ON THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1940, BY THE INSPECTOR OF FIRE BRIGADES.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1940 Session I, H-12

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1940. NEW ZEALAND.

FIRE BRIGADES OF THE DOMINION (REPORT ON THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1940, BY THE INSPECTOR OF FIRE BRIGADES.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Inspector of Fire Brigades to the Hon. the Minister op Internal Affairs. Office of the Inspector of Fire Brigades, Wellington, 30th July, 1940. Sir, — I have the honour to submit the thirty-second annual report, for the year ended 31st March, 1940, on the working of the Fire Brigades Act, 1926. Administration. No new fire districts were created during the year, and the number in operation remains at fifty-five. Several local authorities have completed the preliminary steps for the formation of fire districts, but the formal consent of the Minister has not been given since it was the intention of the Government to bring down legislation affecting fire districts and fire-brigade control during the year under review. Owing to the war it has not so far been possible to prepare this legislation. Dominion Fire Waste. The loss by fire in New Zealand during 1939 —estimated in the usual way by the addition of 12| per cent, (uninsured loss) to the actual amount paid out by insurance companies—was £660,613, or a drop of £10,062, or 1-5 per cent., on the fire loss for 1938. The following table shows the relative position since 1927, and it will be noted that despite the small increase which has taken place over the last two years the fire loss per head of population—which is the most satisfactory basis for comparison—is still considerably below half the average for the 1927-31 period.

It will be seen from the table below that the cycle of high-fire-loss fires referred to in my last report has continued, although the total loss in these fires is less than for the previous year (£173,882, as compared with £302,150 for 1938-39). This reduction is reflected not only in the losses in fire districts shown in the attached tables, but also in the figures for the Dominion fire loss for the year 1939, which are not, of course, strictly comparable owing to the different period covered. It is especially noteworthy that the high-loss-fire cycle is still continuing into the present year, the loss in six fires during the period January to March being £102,861, and in five fires during the following three months (April to June, 1940), £169,448.

I Fire Loss in New Zealand. Fire Loss per Head. DiScts. Dominion. Sew Zealand. Great Britain. Canada. 8 £ £ e. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Average (1927-31) .. 508,406 1,332,082 .18 1 5 0 17 5 16 0 1932 .. .. .. 201,736 887,714 11 5 3 9 16 8 13 2 1933 .. .. .. 245,195 644,781 8 4 4 7 12 11 8 .10 1934 .. .. .. 173,172 566,112 7 3 4 1 10 0 8 7 1935 .. .. .. 181,296 607,410 7 9 4 0 8 9 8 1 1936 .. .. .. 199,592 524,029 68 45 80 85 1937 .. .. .. 170,167 520,894 6 6 4 9 8 4 8 1 1938 .. .. .. 441,489 670,675 8 3 4 3 9 3 8 3 1939 .. .. .. 280,278 660,613 8 1 4 0 9 0 10 0

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It will be seen from the tables attached that the loss in fire districts during the year under review was £280,278, and in areas protected by Fire Boards £40,292, or a total of £320,570, as compared with £441,489, £9,453, and £450,942 respectively for the previous year. Details of fires in fire districts in which the loss exceeded £5,000 are as follows: —

Fires with Loss Exceeding £5,000, Year Ending 31st March, 1940.

In view of the large number of serious fires, a very careful study has been made of the location and incidence of fires for several years past. The year under review includes six months of the war period, and it was considered possible that there might be some sinister explanation for the great increase in large fires which has taken place during the past two years. This investigation and the review of the current year's fires in fire districts set out below does not justify any conclusion that the series of large fires arises from anything but normal causes which are responsible for the smaller fires which in the aggregate make up the great bulk of the annual wastage by fire. The investigation did, however, disclose one factor which appears to be of definite significance in the consideration of the national fire loss. In the following table the losses arising from large and small fires over a period of ten years have been shown separately both for the Dominion as a whole and for fire districts. It will be noted that the latter are mainly urban areas. The practice of previous reports has been adopted, and large fires are regarded as those in which the loss exceeds £5,000.

While one is chary of drawing definite deductions from figures covering a limited period, the •comparative regularity of the annual loss from small fires, particularly in the fire districts, appe irs to establish that from 1932, when the full effects of the depression were experienced, the annual los ;os from small fires have become more or less stabilized, and the variation in the Dominion fire losses from year to year has depended almost entirely on the number and severity of large fires which have occurred during the particular year. It will be noted that fire-prevention publicity, including the holding of a Fire Prevention Week, was inaugurated in 193], and this was continued for several years. It therefore practically coincided with the intensive effect of the depression. While this inference cannot be regarded as being fully established, it was to be expected that the fire-prevention propaganda would reach a greater percentage of the population, and therefore be most effective, in the urban areas. This factor may account for the earlier stabilization of what might be termed the " normal " small-fire loss in fire districts as compared with the Dominion as a whole.

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Locality. Day and Date. Time. Cause of Fire. Loss. £ Christchurch .. Saturday (16/8/39) .. 6.12 p.m. Electrical-goods maim- Ignition of spray paint 13,781 facturer vapour Christchurch .. Sunday (19/10/39) .. 12.19 p.m. Importer's warehouse Lighted match dropped 6,033 Christchurch .. Monday (20/10/39) .. 6.10 p.m. Tannery .. .. Spark from automatic 6,546 stoker Christchurch .. Monday (10/11/39) .. 6.5 p.m. Car-assembly works .. Spark from forge .. 8,619 Christchurch .. Thursday (22/2/40) .. 12.33 a.m. Grocery warehouse .. Unknown .. .. 17,055 *Christchurch .. Wednesday (10/1/40) 10.15 p.m. Meat-works .. Unknown .. .. 7,473 *Christchurch .. Monday (5/2/40) .. 8.46 p.m. Bulk-paper store .. Suspected incendiarism 28,223 Invercargill .. Sunday (2/11/39) .. 12.52 p.m. Furniture-factory .. Spark from chimney .. 8,749 Napier .. Tuesday (2/9/39) .. 5.24 a.m. Drapery store .. Burglars .. .. 6,616 Napier .. Friday (24/10/39) .. 11.40 p.m. Boys'High School .. Unknown .. .. 7,000 Wellington .. Thursday (23/11/39) 8.53 p.m. Machinery-merchants Unknown .. .. 13,677 Wellington .. Saturday (13/1/40) .. 7.57 p.m. Electrical-goods ware- Unknown .. .. 34,418 house Wellington .. Saturday (10/2/40) .. 4.5 a.m. Hotel .. .. Hot ashes in wooden con- 5,546 tain® Wellington .. Friday (16/2/40) .. 7.12 p.m. Drapery store .. Lighted cigarette - butt 10,146 dropped £173,882 * Outside fire district, but within area protected by the Fire Board.

Whole Dominion. Fire Districts. lr Under £5,000 Over £5,000 v Under £5,000 Over £5,000 per Fire. per Fire. per Fire. per Fire. £ £ £ £ 1930 .. .. 974,751 164,941 1930-31 .. .. 311,691 237,038 1931 .. .. 947,693 344,401 1931-32 .. .. 190,767 183,053 1932 .. .. 700,154 167,560 1932-33 .. .. 138,534 63,202 1933 .. .. 514,335 130,446 1933-34 .. .. 147,804 136,549 1934 .. .. 533,632 33,605 1934-35 .. .. 129,435 48,299 1935 .. .. 526,274 81,136 1935-36 .. .. 140,915 43,321 1936 .. .. 446,413 77,616 1936-37 .. .. 126,229 76,608 1937 .. .. 440,854 80,040 1937-38 .. .. 153,059 41,119 1938 .. .. 436,294 234,506 1938-39 .. .. 148,792 302,150 1939 .. .. 464,077 196,536 1939-40 .. .. 146,688 173,882

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Large fires almost invariably occur in business or industrial premises. Serious as the loss may be in the aggregate and important as it affects the individual, losses in dwellings seldom involve more than the value of the particular dwelling and contents, which seldom exceeds £5,000. Dwellings, moreover, are in occupation both day and night, and for this reason the alarm is normally given at an early stage and the brigade can usually limit considerably the extent of any fire. The records show that for a five-year period the fires in dwellings represent 59 per cent, of the total number but only 26 per cent, of the loss. The story told by these figures is therefore one of a serious national loss caused mainly through carelessness in warehouse, shop, and factory. The question is? of particular importance at the present time since, owing to the war conditions existing, losses of merchandise in shop and warehouse, and of plant, machinery, and stock in works and factories, whether in the primary or secondary industries cannot be replaced, or at best replacement must involve considerable delay and the utilization of foreign exchange, which is a vital necessity for war purposes. Whatever value may be ascribed to the figures quoted above, they do establish beyond question that a considerable increase in the number and severity of large fires has taken place during the past two years. In stressing the effect of these fires we must not lose sight of the fact that the large fire is, after all, only an extension of the small one. It arises from the same causes—invariably human carelessness in one form or another—and in most cases only becomes a large fire because the brigade does not receive the alarm until it has reached " bonfire " proportions. The only way to deal with the question of large fires is to prevent them beginning as small ones, and experience indicates that an intensive and sustained fire-prevention effort is the most effective method of checking the number of outbreaks of fire. The importance of conserving the national assets for war purposes makes it more than ordinarily important that a campaign on the lines of that conducted during the depression years should be undertaken as soon as possible. Death and Injury in Fires. In addition to the material loss set out in this report, fires during the year were responsible for seventeen deaths and twenty-two cases of serious injury involving hospital treatment. Of the deaths, thirteen were caused through persons being trapped in buildings, three by clothing catching alight from fires, &c., and one to the use or misuse of petrol for home dry-cleaning. A particularly regrettable feature of the fatalities was that thirteen of the seventeen fatalities involved children, ten being trapped in building fires, two received fatal burns from clothing catching alight, and one from an ignition of petrol. Survey of Fires in Fire Districts. As indicated above, a survey of all fires occurring in fire districts during the year was made to determine, if possible, whether any significance could be attached to the outbreaks of fire which occurred in industrial premises. A summary of the information obtained is set out below, and this does not indicate any abnormal circumstances.

Classification of Fires according to Occupancy.

Inspection. Owing to the outbreak of war a considerable amount of work has been undertaken in connection with the provision of water-supply, fire-fighting and crash equipment, and fire-protection organization for the Air Force and military camps which have been established throughout New Zealand. It was therefore possible to make only a limited number of inspections of brigades, but the opportunity has been taken while in the districts of keeping in touch with brigade officers so far as possible. The usual reports have been made regarding fire protection of Government offices and on water-supply .and fire equipment loans for the Local Government Loans Board. Attached are statistical tables covering the year under review. I have, &c., R. Girling-Butcher, Inspector of Fire Brigades.

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Class of Occupancy. J y° re ° f loss. Class of Occupancy. ¥ire° f Loss - Factories — £ Warehouses— £ Primary industries .. .. 5 7,786 Electrical supplies .. .. 3 34,542 Timber and building trades .. 30 25,189 Merchandise, groceries, &c. .. 5 26,515 Motor industry .. .. 6 9,109 Paper and stationery stores .. 3 29,826 Engineering and metal works .. 17 18,437 Grain and produce stores .. 2 26 Textile and clothing manufacturers 9 1,520 Miscellaneous .. .. 8 4,116 Leather industry .. .. 2 6,552 Paint and varnish manufacturers 4 406 Total: Warehouses .. 21 95,025 Gasworks ...... 3 52 Electrical-goods manufacturers .. 3 14,501 Dwellings .. .. .. 506 67,187 Electric-power stations .. .. 2 253 — Food-manufacturers .. .. 3 71 Shops, offices, &c. .. .. 231 68,095 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 16 1,552 Total: Factories .. 100 85,428

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Table I.—Miscellaneous Statistics for Fire Districts.

Table II.—Areas protected by Fire Boards.

Approximate Cost of Paper.— ('reparation, not given ; printing ((170 copies), £7.

By Authority: E. Y. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington.—l94o.

Price 3d.]

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Firea ! Tmiiranopn Insured Uninsured Authorized Insurance Number involv- finances Insured Uninsured ExpenditureDistrict Popula- Rateable Companies of tag Loss PloDertv Bulldinss Building Total Fire for Year District. tion _ Capital Value. Premium Fire of 8 g loss. ending Income. Calls. Pro- Counts. Contents. "Toil. 13 '' £ £ ££.£££ Auckland, Metro- 183,100 69,582,451 209,029 1,003 237 1,673,022 28,482 1,937 30,419 42,000 politan Balclutha .. 1,710 336,182 1,744 10 2 1,415 708 200 908 400 Birkenhead .. 3,470 785,954 4,321 2 1 1,270 155 .. 155 610 Cambridge .. 2,330 673,250 3,013 7 2 1,900 1,105 20 1,125 549 Christchureh .. 94,600 28,446,750 99,908 526 133 726,267 76,473 3,578 80,051 20,840Dannevirke .. 4,470 1,437,253 5,575 9 6 1,615 169 26 195 530 Dargaville .. 2,300 532,777 2,944 6 3 6,427 214 .. 214 536 Dunedin .. 77,760 24,593,878 78,576 606 87 261,295 5,939 1,012 6,951 21,297 Eltham .. .. 1,900 380,812 1,846 .. .. .. .. .. 589 Feilding.. .. 4,740 1,509,598 5,112 13 3 5,850 67 67 760 Foxton .. .. 1,570 255,592 1,373 4 .. .. .. .. 407 Gisborne .. 13,950 4,096,755 20,323 32 12 33,185 3,601 104 3,705 2,847 Greymouth .. 8,500 1,516,955 8,329 20 9 23,925 4,150 .. 4,150 1,310 Hamilton .. 17,950 5,643,127 19,044 108 14 15,320 866 193 1,059 5,300 Hastings .. 13,650 3,946,780 15,198 54 11 12,545 1,873 40 1,913 2,675 Hawera .. 4,790 1,407,294 6,830 27 6 14,590 1,948 70 2,018 2,181 Hikurangi .. 1,010 125,065 790 2 1 100 4 30 34 218 Hokitika .. 2,750 508,098 3,625 4 1 300 45 .. 45 653 Invereargill .. 22,700 6,114,965 24,147 109 25 27,815 9,351 3,689 13,040 6,606 Kaiapoi .. 1,610 319,460 2,106 4 .. .. .. .. 578 Kaitangata .. 1,290 102,192 1,035 2 .. .. .. ., 260 Lawrence .. 640 57,845 532 4 1 300 45 45 100 Levin .. .. 2,790 787,597 3,636 10 3 6,717 3,613 .. 3,613 628 Maaterton .. 9,520 2,708,530 11,635 73 12 6,860 1,238 145 1,383 4,127 Milton .. .. 1,370 241,828 1,947 4 .. .. .. .. 215 Morrinsville .. 2,000 556,883 2,665 4 .. .. .. .. 514 Napier .. .. 16,050 4,517,322 23,548 88 17 36,227 8,517 7,868 16,385 5.100 Nelson .. .. 11,500 3,215,881 17,120 38 5 5,230 1,390 .. 1,390 3,281 New Plymouth .. 17,500 5,178,990 16,853 71 9 11,230 2,450 1,117 3,567 3,733 Oamaru .. 7,600 1,577,903 7,538 17 3 1,215 781 .. 781 955 Ohakune .. 1,400 100,784 998 9 3 250 150 650 800 370 Opotiki .. .. 1,520 373,046 2,116 7 7 17,080 410 15 425 510 Otaki .. .. 1,830 309,805 1,575 2 2 30 30 31 61 397 Pahiatua .. 1,760 410,653 3,124 10 3 3,135 821 .. 821 541 Palmerston North 23,600 6,984,001 28,554 156 34 79,360 1,915 541 2,456 9,000 Petone .. .. 11,250 3,169,740 14,175 51 15 38,480 1,605 245 1,850 2,726 Port Chalmers .. 2,050 305,311 1,716 4 1 550 34 .. 34 238 Pukekohe .. 2,690 888,919 2,750 8 1 710 30 30 790 Pnotorua .. 6,530 1,569,292 7,450 46 8 14,350 780 217 997 1,362 Taihape .. 2,210 428,483 3,363 13 4 5,900 33 .. 33 588 Taumarunui .. 2,780 635,166 2,871 10 1 .. 15 15 599 Tauranga .. 3,910 1,127,505 5,206 15 .. .. .. .. 620TeAroha .. 2,470 788,286 3,671 6 .. .. .. .. 354 Te Awamutu .. 2,580 836,858 3,356 10 1 115 2 2 536 Timaru.. .. 17,900 5,120,220 16,760 72 9 42,530 117 32 149 4,029 Waihi .. .. 4,000 318,570 2,698 25 4 375 342 3,675 4,017 635 Waipukurau .. 2,120 486,685 2,730 8 1 1,475 622 .. 622 450 Wairoa.. .. 2,620 580,277 3,476 18 8 7,507 2,117 325 2,442 690 Waitara.. .. 2,060 355,974 2,364 2 1 1,500 307 .. 307 295 Wanganui .. 23,500 6,165,803 27,988 162 27 43,804 5,163 568 5,731 9,241 Wellington .. 123,200 45,819,705 176,543 1,176 147 915,705 79,806 1,936 81,742 42,400 Westport .. 4,290 585,645 4,408 10 4 8,900 831 .. 831 740 Whakatane .. 1,960 536,417 2,650 5 1 800 427 300 727 540 Whangarei .. 7,610 2,557,301 8,777 1.3 6 7,372 2,961 2 2,963 850 Woodville .. 1,050 178,632 1,194 1 1. .. 10 10 352 792,070 251,791,045 930,855 4,696 892 4,064,548 251,685 28,593 280,278 208,052

I Fj , Insured | tlniDsured P r« ta - o 8 K;.«iri» sags- sgs ™ e^ j Property. Contents , Contents. £ £ £ £ Belfast (works only) .. .. .. 1 1 6,577 896 7,473 Christchurch Fire Board. Fairfield .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Hamilton Fire Board. Feilding (works only) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Feilding Fire Board. Hamilton (hospital only) .. . . .. .. .. .. .. Hamilton Fire Board. Hawera .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . Hawera Fire Board. Mangere .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board. New Lynn .. .. 3,680 557,247 .. .. .. .. .. Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board. Palmerston North (abattoirs . . .. .. .. .. .. .. Palmerston North Fire Board. and aero club only) Cashmere .. .. Fendalton .. .. U.770 1,639,990 76 22 32,256 563 32,819 Christchurch Fire Board. Riccarton .. .. J West Harbour (works only) .. .. .; .. .. .. .. Dunedin Metropolitan Fire Board. 77 23 38,833 1,459 40,292