H.—l2.

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.

2

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