FIRE BRIGADES OF THE DOMINION (REPORT ON THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1941, BY THE INSPECTOR OP FIRE BRIGADES.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1941 Session I, H-12

11.—12.

1941. NEW ZEALAND.

FIRE BRIGADES OF THE DOMINION (REPORT ON THE) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1941, BY THE INSPECTOR OP 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 of Internal Affairs. Office of the Inspector of Fire Brigades, Wellington, 28th August, 1941. Sir, — I have the honour to submit the thirty-third annual report, for the year ended 31st March, 1941, on the working of the Fire Brigades Act, 1926. Dominion Fire Waste. The loss by fire in New Zealand during 1940 was £722,692, being an increase of £62,079 on the losses for 1939. This increase is probably due in the main to the higher values of both buildings and contents involved in fire. The fire losses in fire districts for the year ending 31st March, 1941, and which are therefore not strictly comparable with figures for the whole Dominion, were £242,689, which is a reduction on the corresponding figures for the previous year. The losses in large fires (over £5,000) still appear to be the determining factor in the annual fire losses f6r the Dominion. The losses in these fires are shown in the table set out below and, while not as high as for the previous two years, they are still substantial. It is evident the cycle of large fires referred to in last year's report is continuing. Owing to the war it has not been possible to obtain much of the statistical information on which the previous reports were based, and for this reason the comparative tables previously published have been discontinued.

Fires with Loss exceeding £5,000, Year ending 31st March, 1941.

Death and Injury in Fires. During the year fires were responsible for nineteen deaths and fourteen cases of serious injury. Of the deaths, fifteen were caused by persons being trapped in burning buildings, one by clothing catching light, and two by use of petrol for home dry-cleaning. Of the nineteen fatalities, five involved children, all of whom were trapped in burning buildings. There is one other fatality which calls for special comment, and that is the case of a man who was knocked down and killed by a fire engine responding to a fire call which turned out to be a malicious false alarm. It is doubtful whether any appeal to the persons with the warped mental outlook which results in the giving of these false alarms would be successful. The only effective deterrent would appear to be the imposition of a heavy penalty on detection, and the fact that one of these false alarms has resulted in the death of an unfortunate bystander may cause the Courts to view the offence in a more serious light. Emergency Fire Protection. During the year under review it has been necessary to discontinue almost entirely the ordinary inspection work and to concentrate attention on the preparation of an emergency fire-fighting organization. A technical committee consisting of the Superintendents of the principal city brigades was set up to advise the Government on the fire-protection measures necessary to meet conditions likely to arise in the event of enemy attack. The recommendations of this committee were in the main accepted by the Government, and arrangements were made for the establishment of an emergency fire service of 2,100 men in the cities and larger secondary towns. The general conditions of service of this force are similar to those applying to the Territorial Army, and the Government and the local authorities are co-operating in the provision of the extra fire-fighting equipment necessary for emergency operation. Most of this equipment is being manufactured in New Zealand. The necessary authorizing regulations were gazetted in February, 1941, and recruitment and training had been commenced before the end of the year.

Locality. | Day and Date. | Time. ? n ° XhWrf Cause of Fire. f~ Loss. £ Auckland .. Thursday (27/2/41) .. 12.36 a.m. Lead-mills and Unknown .. .. 9,000 plumbers Dunedin .. Tuesday (25/6/40) .. 5.17 a.m. Brewery .. .. Unknown .. .. 4.5,999 Timaru .. Friday (28/3/41) .. 2.18 p.m. Millers and biscuit- Unknown .. .. 22,914 factory Wellington .. Tuesday (23/4/40) .. 2.35 a.m. Clothing - factory and Spontaneous combustion 15,135 electrical engineering • works Wellington .. Thursday (18/7/40) .. 8.50 am. Apartment-house .. Hot ashes placed in 5,234 wooden box Wellington .. Tuesday (8/10/40) .. 2.4 a.m. Warehouse and offices Radiated heat from gas- 5,203 ring 103,485

H—l2.

Administration. No new fire districts were created during the year, but in view of the Government's decision not to proceed with the proposed amending legislation during the war period the Minister has agreed to permit the formation of several additional fire districts which will be constituted during the coming year. Routine reports have been made regarding protection of Government buildings, and on water-supply and fire-equipment loans for the Local Government Loans Board ; a considerable number of inspections of military camps and Air Force stations have also been made. Attached are statistical tables covering the year under review. I have, &c., R. Girling-Butchee, Inspector of Fire Brigades.

Table I.—Miscellaneous Statistics for Fire Districts.

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given ; printing (655 copies), £4 10s.

By Authority: E. V. Paul, Government Printer, Wellington. —1941.

/ rice, 3d. |

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I Fires Tnqiiranpps Insured i Uninsured Authorized Insurance Number involv- Frances iMiirea Expenditure niafriPt Popula- Rateable Companies of tng Loss p r0T)ertv Buildincs' Buildincs Total FIre for Year District. t ion. Capital Value. Premium Fire . of fnvoK?d and and g Loss - ending Income. Calls. I Counts. Contents. M T942. l8t ' £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Auckland M etr o- 183,950 66,564,066 224,247 996 186 1,987,377 36,366 3,452 39,818 47,280 politan Balclutha .. 1,690 343,597 1,743 8 2 2,274 111 .. Ill 290 Birkenhead .. 3,450 800,474 4,676 13 4 1,655 586 70 656 610 Cambridge ..2,330 689,175 * * * * * * * 592 Christchurch . 100,000 29,197,221 107,315 552 137 418,035 16,446 1,270 17,716 22,990 Dannevirke .. 4.400 1,455,563 5,696 20 5 2,460 40 62 102 630 Dargaville .. 2,280 618,580 3,137 8 3 105 25 25 536 Dunedin Metro- 77,340 25,279,728 82,340 662 106 612,435 61,237 840 62,077 26,762 politan Eltham .. .. 1,880 386,102 1,820 .. .. .. .. .. .. 600 Feilding. . .. 4,720 1,312,660 5,076 9 1 2,100 5 5 710 Foxton.. .. 1,510 260,183 1,836 12 4 3,425 138 535 673 293 Gisborne .. 13,900 4,176,874 20,154 34 13 24,905 2,158 408 2,566 3,396 Greymouth .. 8,460 1,584,582 8,570 10 8 18,700 2,966 25 2,991 1,310 Hamilton .. 17,950 5,948,197 20,057 95 11 21,275 5,764 36 5,800 5,900 Hastings .. 13,650 4,033,520 16,173 39 13 32,830 2,319 10 2,329 2,675 Hawera .. 4,790 1,494,774 6,726 23 7 32,760 251 23 274 2,250 Hikurangi .. 1,000 126,275 749 1 .. .. .. .. 173 Hokitika .. 2,730 508,310 3,825 9 5 4,625 1,823 280 2,103 620 Invercargill .. 23,760 6,438,450 25,526 155 31 51,789 4,268 457 4,725 6,598 Kaiapoi.. .. 1,610 322,965 * 9 2 1,904 58 2 60 538 Kaitangata .. 1,280 144,550 1,045 3 .. .. .. .. 226 Lawrence .. 630 57,850 557 .. .. .. .. .. 100 Levin .. .. 2,820 810,571 3,540 12 2 1,910 1,420 .. 1,420 547 Masterton .. 9,480 2,781,581 11,822 57 10 18,915 368 343 711 3,981 Milton .. .. 1,370 264,560 1,870 3 1 300 15 15 250 Morrinsville .. 2,000 582,108 2.739 9 1.. .. 8 8 558 Napier .. .. 15,950 4,653,494 23,588 71 7 6,790 443 85 528 5,300 Nelson .. .. 11,400 3,310,381 16,488 38 11 59,625 1,609 430 2,039 3,742 New Plymouth .. 17,550 5,319,022 17,392 68 7 26,860 125 55 180 4,052 Oamaru.. .. 7,610 1,582,658 7,972 26 1 6,100 248 .. 248 1,075 Ohakune .. 1,390 105,634 1,113 7 2 1,000 190 .. 190 290 Opotiki.. .. 1,510 379,861 * .. .. .. .. .. 445 Otaki .. .. 1,820 310,525 1,671 4 .. .. .. .. 454 Pahiatua .. 1,740 454,550 3,183 11 1 4,500 79 .. 79 686 Palmerston North 23,600 7,243,564 28,736 126 18 98,947 1,650 200 1,850 9,060 Petone .. .. 11,050 3,287,120 15,202 35 9 20,550 1,431 480 1,911 3,140 Port Chalmers .. 2,020 325,075 1,802 4 3 2,600 2,085 .. 2,085 277 Pukekohe .. 2,690 903,684 2,881 14 3 1,800 550 35 585 800 Rotorua .. 6,540 1,623,310 7,710 33 9 13,130 294 121 415 1,301 Taibape.. .. 2,210 428,523 3,324 23 4 1,650 164 1,450 1,614 588 Taumarunui .. 2,760 643,036 3,045 8 4 3,760 522 68 590 837 Tauranga .. 3,910 1,213,218 5,332 15 .. .. .. .. 603 TeAroha .. 2,450 828,821 4,010 5 2 2,445 1,395 10 1,405 315 TeAwamutu .. 2,570 998,430 3,510 14 3 5,200 605 .. 605 440 Timaru.. .. 17,800 5,246,480 16,200 62 9 217,400 24,403 .. 24,403 5,270 Waihi .. .. 3,970 337,092 3,085 17 1 175 175 200 375 576 Waipukurau .. 2,110 497,410 2,786 5 .. .. .. 450 Wairoa.. .. 2,630 686,190 3,426 12 4 18,730 1,694 .. 1,694 694 Waitara.. .. 2,060 363,452 3,212 1 1 800 800 .. 800 351 Wanganui .. 23,400 6,221,022 27,790 189 19 45,848 3,681 535 4,216 10,444 Wellington .. 120,700 47,075,815 174,429 1,181 167 1,641,199 49,723f 2,206t 51,929+ 47,200 Westport .. 4,240 596,975 4,601 10 4 5,380 282 .. 282 740 Whakatane .. 2,160 582,404 2 ,£43 9 3 2,000 88 57 145 600 Whangarei .. 7,600 2,629,699 * 17 5 2,475 329 7 336 977 Woodville .. 1,050 193,793 1,300 .. .. .. .. .. .. 367 795,470 254,223,754 948,170 [4,744 849 5,428,743 228,929 13,760 242,689 231,489 Areas protected by .. .. , 11 10 .. 961 61 1,022§ Fire Boards I I * Figures not available. t Returns incomplete. § All in area protected by Christchurch Fire Board.