1. That public authorities should encourage fire brigade officers to
take an active interest in the preventive aspect of fire projection,
inasmuch as the result of the fire brigade officers' experience in
actual fire practice, if suitably applied in conjunction with the work
of architects, engineers and public officials, would be most useful
for the organization and development of precautionary measures.
2. That fire brigade societies, associations and unions should
encourage amongst the brigades affiliated to these bodies the study of
questions of fire prevention.
3. That fire brigades should be placed on a sound legal basis, and
that it is advisable that their efficiency be supervised by a
government department.
4. That an official investigation should be made of all fires. That on
the occurrence of every fire an investigation should be immediately
made by an official, duly qualified and empowered to ascertain the
cause and circumstances connected therewith, reporting the result of
such investigation to a public department for tabulation and
publication.
5. That the whole or part of the cost of such inquiry should be
charged to the occupier of the premises where the fire occurred, as
may appear desirable in the circumstances of each case.
6. That the press should from time to time publish technical reports
on fires so that the public may benefit from the knowledge and
experience gained.
_London._--In the early part of the 19th century the methods in vogue
for the suppression of outbreaks of fire in the metropolis were of the
most crude and disjointed character, in striking contrast with the
highly elaborated system now put into practice by the London County
Council through its fire brigade; and it was not until the second half
of the 19th century was well advanced that anything approaching an
adequate and satisfactory organization was brought into existence. Until
the passing of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, the only acts
relating to the suppression of outbreaks of fire in London were the
Lighting and Watching Act (3 & 4 William IV., c. 90), and "an act (14
Geo. III., c. 78) for the further and better Regulation of Buildings and
Party Walls, and for the more effectually preventing Mischiefs by Fire
within the Cities of London and Westminster, and the Liberties thereof,
and other the Parishes, Precincts and Places within the Weekly Bills of
Mortality, the Parishes of Marylebone, Paddington, St Pancras, and St
Luke's at Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex." The clauses in the
latter act relating to protection against fire remained in force till
the passing of the act of 1865. They provided that every parish should
keep "one large engine and one small, called a hand engine, a leathern
pipe, and a certain number of ladders." The Lighting and Watching Act
contained a clause which extended to England and Wales and so covered
the area "without the bills of mortality," enabling the inspectors
appointed under that act to provide and keep up two fire-engines; and
certain of the parishes in the metropolitan district, without the bills
of mortality, availed themselves of this provision.
The select committee of fires in the metropolis, which sat in 1862,
reported that it was difficult to ascertain how far the act of George
III. was attended to, or when it ceased to be considered practically of
importance, but that, at the time of the report, the arrangements
generally made by the parishes under the act were not only entirely
useless, but in many cases produced injurious results, as the system
under the act frequently conferred a reward for the first useless
parochial engine, whereas the efficient engine which might be on the
spot a few minutes later derived no pecuniary advantages. There were,
however, exceptions to the general rule. At Hackney, for example, a
"very efficient" fire brigade was maintained at an expense of about L500
a year, or about one halfpenny in the pound on the rating of the parish.
The select committee were unable to ascertain with any accuracy the
total amount paid by the metropolitan parishes for the maintenance,
"however inefficient," of their fire-engines, but it was estimated to be
about L10,000.
For many years previous to 1832, the principal fire insurance offices in
London kept fire brigades at their individual expense; to these
brigades were attached a considerable number of men usually occupied as
Thames watermen, retained in the service of the different Fire Offices,
who received payment only on the occurrence of fires, and who wore the
livery and badge of the respective companies. These fire brigades were,
to quote the report of the select committee of 1862, considered as
giving notoriety to the different insurance companies, and a
considerable rivalry was maintained, which was productive naturally of
good as well as of some considerable evil on occasions of fires.
The large expenses thus incurred by the companies induced an attempt to
be made, which was effectually carried out in the year 1832, by R. Bell
Forde, a leading director of the Sun Fire Office, to form one brigade
for the purpose of promoting economy as well as greater efficiency. Thus
the first organized fire brigade for London began its operations under
the united sanction of, and from funds contributed by, most of the
leading insurance offices in London. The force thus formed was known as
the London Fire Engine Establishment. The annual expense was at first
L8000, the number of stations 19, the number of men employed 80. By 1862
the annual cost had grown to L25,000, the number of stations had become
20, and the number of men 127.
It is interesting to note that the chief station of the Fire Engine
Establishment was the Watling-Street station, in substitution for which
the new Cannon-Street station has been built. The following is a list of
the other stations of the establishment:--
School House-lane, Shadwell Crown Street, Soho
Wellclose Square Wells Street
Jeffrey's Square Baker Street
Whitecross Street King Street, Golden Square
Farringdon Street Horseferry Road
Holborn Waterloo Road
Chandos Street Southwark Bridge Road
Tooley Street Southwark Bridge (floating)
Lucas Street, Rotherhithe Rotherhithe (floating)
The work of this force was carried out in an efficient manner as far as
its limited equipment and strength would permit, but it was universally
admitted that the staff, engines and stations were totally inadequate
for the general protection of London from fire. The directors of the
insurance offices themselves admitted this, but they considered their
brigade sufficient for the protection of that part of London in which
the largest amount of insured property was located, and contended that
it was not their business to provide fire stations in the more outlying
districts where, if a fire occurred, it was not likely to involve their
offices in serious loss.
From 1836 the work of the brigade maintained by the fire offices was
supplemented by the "Society for the Protection of Life from Fire." This
society was managed by a committee of which the lord mayor was
president. It was supported entirely by voluntary contributions, and, at
a cost of about L7000 a year, maintained fire-escapes at from 80 to 90
stations in different parts of the most central districts in London. Its
most outlying station was only 4 m. from the Royal Exchange, and it
maintained no stations in such localities as Greenwich, Peckham,
Deptford and New Cross. It did much useful work, though its equipment
was quite inadequate to cope with the needs of the metropolis.
In 1834, two years after the institution of the London Fire Engine
Establishment, the Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire, and the
attention of the government was consequently directed to the inadequacy
of the existing conditions for fire extinction. It was suggested, at the
time, that the parochial engines should be placed under the inspection
of the commissioners of police, but this proposal was not adopted, and
the existing state of matters was allowed to continue for another thirty
years. The select committee of 1862 recommended that a fire brigade
should be created under the superintendence of the commissioners of
police, and should form part of the general establishment of the
metropolitan police. In 1865, however, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act
was passed, under which the responsibility for the provision and
maintenance of an efficient fire brigade was laid upon the Metropolitan
Board of Works. Under the provisions of the act, the board took over the
staff, stations and equipment of the Fire Engine Establishment; the
engines maintained by the various parochial authorities, and the men in
charge of them were also absorbed by the new organization, as were the
fire-escapes and staff of the Society for the Protection of Life from
Fire.
The funds provided by the Fire Brigade Act for the maintenance of the
brigade were: (1) the produce of a halfpenny rate on all the rateable
property in London; (2) contributions by the fire insurance companies at
the rate of L35 per million of the gross amount insured by them in
respect of property in London; and (3) a contribution of L10,000 a year
by the government. Although the revenue allotted increased year by year,
its increase was far from keeping pace with the constant calls from all
parts of London for protection from fire. Some temporary financial
relief was afforded by the Metropolitan Board of Works (Loans) Act 1869,
which (1) authorized the interest on borrowed money to be paid, and the
principal to be redeemed out of the proceeds of the Metropolitan
Consolidated rate, apart from the halfpenny allocated for fire brigade
purposes; and (2) provided that the amount to be raised for the annual
working expenditure on the brigade should be equal to what would be
produced by a halfpenny in the pound on the gross annual value of
property, instead of, as before, on the rateable value. One result of
the passing of the Local Government Act 1888 (by which the London County
Council was constituted), under which a county rate for all purposes is
levied, was virtually to repeal the limitation of the amount which might
be raised from the ratepayers for fire brigade purposes. Since that time
the expenditure on the brigade has therefore, like that of other
departments of the council's service, been determined solely by what the
council has judged to be the requirements of the case.
When the council came into existence early in 1889 the fire brigade was
admittedly not large enough properly to protect the whole of London, the
provision in various suburban districts being notoriously inadequate to
the requirements. A plan for enlarging and improving old stations, and
for carrying out a scheme of additional protection laid down after
careful consideration of the needs of London as a whole, was approved on
the 8th of February 1898 (and somewhat enlarged in 1901); it provided
for the placing of horsed escapes at existing fire stations, for the
establishment of some 22 additional stations provided with horsed
escapes, and for the discontinuance of nearly all the fire-escape and
hose-cart stations in the public thoroughfares.
Since it came into existence the London County Council has established
additional fire stations at Dulwich, New Cross, Kingsland,
Whitefriars, Lewisham, Shepherd's Bush, West Hampstead, East
Greenwich, Perivale, Homerton, Highbury, Vauxhall, Pageant's Wharf
(Rotherhithe), Streatham, Kilburn, Bayswater, Eltham, Burdett Road
(Mile End), Wapping, Northcote Road (Battersea), Herne Hill, Lee Green
and North End (Fulham). Of these, Vauxhall, Kilburn, Bayswater,
Eltham, Burdett Road, Herne Hill and North End stations are
sub-stations. New stations have been erected, in substitution for
small and inconvenient buildings, at Wandsworth, Shoreditch, Fulham,
Brompton, Islington, Paddington, Redcross Street (City), Euston Road,
Clapham, Mile End, Deptford, Old Kent Road, Millwall, Kensington,
Westminster, Brixton and Cannon Street (City), and the existing
stations at Kennington, Rotherhithe, Clerkenwell, Hampstead,
Battersea, Whitechapel, Greenwich and Stoke Newington have been
considerably enlarged. Two small stations without horses have been
established in Battersea Park Road and North Woolwich respectively. A
building has been erected at Rotherhithe for the accommodation of the
staff of the Cherry-garden river station; and another building has
been erected at Battersea for the accommodation of the staff of a
river station which has been established there.
In 1909 new stations in substitution for existing stations were in
course of erection at Knightsbridge and Tooting, and additional
sub-stations were being erected at Plumstead and Hornsey Rise. The
Bethnal Green station was being considerably altered and enlarged. The
council had also determined to erect new stations in substitution for
existing inconvenient buildings at Holloway, Waterloo Road, Shooter's
Hill and North End, Fulham; and to build additional sub-stations at
Charlton, Caledonian Road, Brixton Hill, Camberwell New Road,
Roehampton, Balham, Brockley and Earlsfield.
_Budapest._--There is a combination of a professional force and a
volunteer force at Budapest, and in addition an auxiliary service of
factory fire brigades. The professional fire brigade possesses a central
station and eight sub-stations, two minor stations, and permanent
theatre-watchrooms at the royal theatres. The staff (in 1901) of the
professional brigade consisted of a chief officer, an inspector, a
senior adjutant and two junior adjutants, a clerk, and further 23
warrant officers, 3 engineers, 15 foremen, 154 firemen and 30 coachmen
with 62 horses. There have been some slight increases since. The
apparatus at their disposal consists of 6 steam fire-engines, 22 manual
engines, 27 small manual engines, 11 water carts, 13 traps, 4 tenders,
26 hose reels and hose carts, 5 long ladders, 9 ordinary extension
ladders, 34 hook ladders, 12 smoke helmets and 22,000 metres of hose.
The various stations are connected with the central station by private
telephone lines. There are 149 telephonic fire alarms distributed
throughout the city. They are on radial lines connected up with their
respective nearest stations, and on a single radial line there are from
three to seventeen call-points.
The volunteer brigade has an independent constitution and comprises some
eighty members. Its equipment is housed with that of the professional
brigade, and is bought and maintained by the municipality. This
volunteer brigade is a comparatively wealthy institution, having a
capital of 100,000 crowns, whilst receiving a special subsidy annually
from the municipality. Though legally an entirely independent
institution, the brigade voluntarily puts itself under the command of
the chief officer of the professional brigade. It further puts daily at
the disposal of the professional fire chief ten men who do duty every
night and "turn out" when called upon to render service. This volunteer
brigade stands as a kind of model to the other volunteer brigades, and
it is in connexion with this volunteer brigade that the educational
classes referred to above are held and facilities accorded to the
officers undergoing instruction to gain experience at the Budapest
fires.
The Budapest professional fire brigade, even if assisted by the
volunteer force, would scarcely be of adequate strength to deal with
the great factory risks of that city were it not that the Budapest
factories and mills have a splendidly organized service of factory
fire brigades. These brigades--forty-four in number--are essentially
private institutions, intended to render self-help in the factories to
which they belong, but they are well organized, and have a mutual
understanding whereby the neighbouring brigades of any one factory
immediately turn out and assist in case of need. These factory
brigades have a total staff of 1600 men. They are equipped with 1
steam fire-engine, 57 large manuals, 136 small manuals, and have a
very considerable amount of small gear, including 15 smoke helmets.
_Cologne._--The Cologne professional fire brigade is 153 strong (1906),
with a chief officer, a second officer, and two divisional officers, a
warrant officer, a telegraph superintendent and 16 foremen. The brigade
has 26 horses, of which 2, however, are used for ambulance purposes. The
brigade has three large stations and a minor station, and has a
permanent fire-watch at the two municipal theatres. Men are told off for
duty as coachmen among the firemen. The staff do forty-eight hours of
duty to twenty-four hours of rest.
A peculiarity of the Cologne organization is its auxiliary retained fire
brigade in two sections, comprising a superintendent, 2 deputy
superintendents, 5 foremen, and 51 men, with 2 horses, who are retained
men housed in municipal buildings (tenements), and available as an
immediate reserve force. The first section of the reserve force are
housed centrally.
There is a further system of suburban volunteer fire brigades manned by
volunteers but equipped by the municipality, and horsed from the
municipal stables or municipal tramways. Three of these volunteer
brigades, which have large suburban districts, comprise each a
superintendent, 2 senior foremen and 3 junior foremen, with 50 firemen
and 3 coachmen. The minor outlying suburbs have several such brigades,
each having one senior foreman, 3 junior foremen, 20 firemen and 2
coachmen. The combined force of the suburban volunteer brigades is 295,
all ranks.
The Cologne fire service thus comprises a combination of professional
brigade with a retained auxiliary brigade and a system of suburban
volunteer brigades. Of the three stations, the central one is still an
old building, and the other two are in modern buildings; the extra
sub-station (near the river stores) is also a modern building. The
brigade has about 150 fires to attend per annum. Its printed matter,
in the form of an annual detailed report, is exceptionally well
prepared. The brigade does permanent "fire-watch" duty at the
municipal theatres which are strengthened of an evening. It provides
additional watches during performances at all other theatres and
public entertainments. Such duties are provided in part by an
auxiliary brigade and partly by the professional brigade. A number of
the professional brigade are always utilized for doing general work in
the workshops of the brigade. The first or central section of the
auxiliary brigade drills eleven times per annum, and is additionally
turned out eleven times per annum (without drill). Men newly attached
to the auxiliary force have to go through a four weeks' recruit drill.
_Nuremberg._--The Nuremberg fire service stands as the most economically
organized efficient fire service in Central Europe, and its form of
organization is peculiar and exceptional. In 1902 the entire
fire-service cost the city 126,000 marks (L6300). The total of
inhabitants in 1900 was 261,000. For this small amount of money the city
gets a highly-trained retained fire brigade of 156 men (1907), and two
volunteer fire brigades of 130 and 224 men respectively. Further, it has
an auxiliary of eighteen suburban volunteer fire brigades (1080 men) and
two private factory fire brigades (71 men). The whole service stands
under a professional chief officer and professional second officer.
There are 8 telegraph clerks, 6 watchmen and 17 coachmen attached to the
retained brigade. The service has been in existence for fifty years. It
has gradually developed and has worked remarkably well, and may, in
fact, be taken as a model institution for municipal economy, with due
regard to up-to-dateness and efficiency. The retained fire brigade
comprises entirely municipal employes, regularly engaged in the
municipal workshops, scavenging and works department. The municipal
workshops are located alongside the fire-brigade stations. There is a
headquarters station for the retained brigade and volunteer brigade in
the centre of the town, a modern district station in the western
district, and a third district station is in course of erection for the
eastern district, which is at present only served by a small branch
station.
At headquarters station there are on immediate duty by day 14 firemen
(chiefly smiths and carpenters) of the retained brigade. Nine men of
the retained brigade are on duty at headquarters at night, together
with 8 men of the volunteer fire brigade. At the west district
station, 14 men of the retained brigade are on duty by day, and the
same number at night.
The headquarters can turn out in succession four complete units of the
following strength, namely:--
First unit, a large chemical engine, and a mechanical long ladder.
Second unit, a trap with hose reel, a special gear-cart and a long
ladder.
Third unit, a trap with hose-cart and manual, and a long ladder.
Fourth unit, a steam fire-engine, and hose- and coal-tender trap.
From the west district station three units can be turned out in
rotation, namely:---
First unit, large chemical engine, large trap and a long ladder.
Second unit, a trap with hose-reel and manual engine.
Third unit, a steam fire-engine and a hose-tender and coal-tender
trap.
The equipment of the eastern sub-station at present comprises a
turn-out of a trap and a long ladder.
The brigade can thus turn out immediately, in rapid succession, these
horsed appliances, well organized and fully manned. It further has a
reserve of 4 manual engines and 2 long ladders.
The suburban volunteer brigades have besides at their disposal 25
manual engines, 9 fire-escapes and 18 hose-reels. The whole of the
hose for all brigades is of uniform pattern and make, with bayonet
pattern standard couplings. The brigade posts an evening "fire watch"
at the theatres. The men of the retained brigade get modest extra pay
for fire brigade duty, but this pay is intended rather to cover
disbursements or expenses than to be considered as wages. The brigade
uses the municipal horses, all of which are stabled in proximity to
the fire stations, and a number of which are kept on duty for fire
brigade purposes in the actual stations. For all practical purposes
the retained brigade is the professional brigade in which the men do
municipal work in the municipal workshops, and elsewhere, i.e. in
training, drill and general efficiency they are quite up to the best
professional standard. The volunteer brigade is well drilled and
includes the best of the younger townsmen, who do duty at night by
rotation. The brigade's responsibilities are clearly defined, and the
position of the professional chief and second officer clearly laid
down by by-laws. There are 129 fire-call points. During the fifty
years' existence of the service, 85 firemen received the twenty-five
years' long-service medal, of whom 32 belonged to the suburban
volunteer brigades.
_Venice._--The Venice fire brigade is a section of the force of "Vigili"
or municipal watchmen, which body does general duty in preserving order
and rendering assistance to the community. In other words, this force
performs the duties of the civil police (rather than governmental or
criminal police), fire, patrol watch service, and public control in a
general sense. The force, which in all its sections made a most
excellent impression, has a commandant, under whom the two primary
sections work, namely (a) the civil police section and the (b) fire
brigade section; each section in turn having its own principal officers.
The police section comprises some 108 of all ranks, and the fire brigade
section some 73 of all ranks (1908). The commandant of the whole force
is a retired military officer, and the chief of the fire service section
is a civil engineer, and these two officers, together with the chief of
the civil police section, are the three superior officers of the force.
The police section serve as auxiliaries to the fire brigade section in
case of any great fire, and, of course, generally work very much hand in
hand on all occasions. The fire brigade section has 3 superintendents, 6
foremen, 6 sub-foremen, 6 corporals and 40 file. The section is well
equipped with appliances, both hand and steam, having a large modern
petrol-propelled float, constructed in London, a large old type
steam-float, two 35-ft. old steam-floats, and several small petrol
motor-floats or first turnout appliances. The manual-engines, ladders,
&c., which are in considerable number, are carried in a large fleet of
swift gondolas. Fire-escape work is done with Roman ladders, which are
usually planted on two gondolas flung together barge-form, or, if the
depth of the canal permits, the lower length is buried in the canal
bottom. Hook ladders are also used.
Men are distributed in six companies of varying strength, the
headquarters company being stationed at the town hall, with a strength
of 22, and most of the steam and petrol floats lie opposite the
station. The fire brigade does theatre watch duty. As a fire station
of considerable interest, should be mentioned the one at the Doge's
palace; the large vaults occupying a portion of the ground floor
facing St Mark's Square have been adapted for fire station purposes in
a very simple yet artistic manner, and the old gear of the brigade has
been used to form emblems, &c.
_Vienna._--In 1892 the Vienna fire service was reconstituted on modern
lines owing to the area of the Vienna municipality having been greatly
extended. The professional brigade was somewhat strengthened and
entirely re-equipped, and the various existing volunteer brigades of the
outlying districts were transformed into suburban volunteer fire
brigades, equipped and controlled by the municipality and standing under
the general command of the fire brigade headquarters. The principle
involved was the utilization of the splendid volunteer force around
Vienna for the purpose of strengthening the municipal brigade, a
principle of great economic advantage, as the professional brigade would
otherwise have had to be materially strengthened, probably trebled.
These suburban volunteer fire brigades number no fewer than 34, and have
1200 firemen of all ranks. They are practically independent institutions
as far as the election of officers and administration is concerned, but
their equipment and uniforms and their fire stations are provided by the
municipality, and in certain districts a staff of professional firemen
detached from headquarters are attached to their stations as telegraph
clerks and drill-instructors.
The suburban volunteer brigades turn out to fires in their own
districts, and further, assist in other districts when so ordered by
headquarters. They form a strong reserve for great fires in the city
proper. Headquarters, of course, renders assistance at large suburban
fires. These suburban volunteer fire brigades are very perfectly
equipped with appliances, generally of the same type as those used in
the central professional brigade. Some of these brigades are equipped
with combined chemical engines with 15-metres long ladders attached.
They have smoke helmets, and everything that may be termed modern. The
men are volunteers in the truest sense of the word, i.e. do not take pay
of any description or make any charges for attendance at fires or
refreshments at fires.
The Vienna "professional brigade," as it is generally called, has a
personnel (1906) consisting of 8 officers, 5 officials and 475 men. Of
stations there is the headquarters, a district station, 4 branch
stations with steam fire engines, 9 small branch stations, and 2
"watches" in public buildings. The officers of the brigade consist of
the commandant, chief inspector and six inspectors. The officers, of
whom four are on duty daily, are all quartered at headquarters. There
are three telegraph superintendents. The rank and file is composed of 8
drill-sergeants, 40 telegraph clerks (three classes), 53 foremen (two
classes), 22 engineers and stokers, 248 men (three classes). Twenty-four
telegraph clerks and engineers are detailed for duty with the suburban
volunteer brigades. There are 78 coachmen.
The following are the fire-extinguishing and life-saving apparatus and
service vehicles of all kinds standing ready to "turn out":--2 open
and 2 officers' service carriages (at headquarters), 6 "traps" for the
first "turn-out" (5 at headquarters and 1 at the district fire
station), each manned by one officer in charge and nine men, and
equipped with 3 hook-ladders, a portable extension ladder and jumping
sheet, a life-saving chute, an ambulance chest, 3 tool-boxes, a jack,
tools, torches, 2 smoke-helmets, with hand-pump and a hose-reel
attached; five special gear-carts (4 at headquarters and 1 at the
district station), each manned by seven firemen and equipped like the
"traps" with the exception that, instead of the life-saving chute, the
carts carry with them a sliding-sheet, two petroleum torches each, an
extension ladder (15 metres long) and some spare coal for the steam
fire-engines; 4 pneumatic extension ladders each 25 metres long, and 3
extension turn-table ladders each 25 metres long (at headquarters and
at two of the sub-stations); each of the pneumatic ladders has three
men, and each turn-table ladder five men; 18 chemical engines (3 at
headquarters and 1 each in the other stations), each having five men
with 3 hook-ladders, a jointed ladder (in four sections), a hose-reel,
a hand-engine, a smoke helmet, a jumping sheet, an ambulance chest, a
tool box, torches, &c.; 8 steam fire-engines (3 at headquarters and
one each in the district fire station and the 4 steam-engine
stations), each with an engineer and stoker.
The reserve of appliances includes 12 manual engines, 15 large
chemical engines, 17 steel water-carts (with 1000 litre reservoirs).
The total number of oxygen smoke helmets in the brigade is 68, and
there are 15 ordinary smoke helmets with hand-pumps. The total number
of horses is 132. One electrically-driven trap and two
electrically-driven chemical engines are being tried. The fire
telegraphic and telephonic installation, including the lines in the
volunteer brigades' districts kept up by the professional brigade,
comprises 47 telegraph stations, 249 telephone stations, with
altogether 161 Morse instruments and 536 semi-public fire-call points.
_Zurich._--Zurich covers about 12,000 English acres, 1500 of which are
built over with some 15,000 houses, the whole of the buildings being
subject to the local building regulations and the State Insurance
Association's rules, in which they are compulsorily insured. The brigade
is a compulsory militia brigade, placed under the control of the head of
the department of police under a law of 1898. The same municipal officer
is head of a special municipal committee of nine, entrusted with the
safety of the town from fire. The executive officer of the committee is
known as the inspector, and acts as captain of the fire brigade. His
office is at the fire-brigade headquarters, where he has a small
permanent staff both for brigade work and correspondence. Every male
inhabitant of Zurich is compelled to do some service for the prevention
of, or protection against, fire, from the age of twenty to fifty years.
The duty may be fulfilled (1) by active service, or (2) in the case of
an able-bodied citizen, who for some reason is not found suited to be a
member of the brigade, or has been dismissed from the brigade, by the
payment of a tax, which tax is fixed on the basis of his income. Certain
citizens, however, are _ipso facto_ exempt from active service, namely
members of parliament, members of council of the Polytechnic school, of
the Cantonal government, of the High Court of Justice, and of the Town
Council; also clergymen and schoolmasters, the officials of railways,
tramway and steamboat companies, of the post-office and telephone
department, students of the Polytechnic school and other educational
institutions and municipal officials, with whose duties fire brigade
service is incompatible. Exemption from active service can also be
accorded on a testimonial of a medical board. Exemption from active
service, however, in no case exempts from the tax, the total of which
amounts to between L4000 and L5000. In making the selection of men for
active service only, men particularly fitted for the work are taken,
namely, men who are personally keen, who have a good physique, and who
are preferably of the building or allied trades. The officers of the
brigade are appointed by the municipal committee. The men's drills are
by the chief officer, and the men are liable to fines and to
imprisonment (up to four days) for not attending their drills. The whole
of the brigade is insured against accidents and illness with the Swiss
Fire Brigade Union at the expense of the city, and the city in addition
provides a fund for families in cases of death of firemen on duty. There
is also a sick fund provided for the brigade by the municipality, which
also accords a scale of compensation.
The fire brigade comprises the very large complement of fifteen
companies with 120 men each. Each company has three sections, namely,
a fire service section, a life-saving section, and a police section,
the last being utilized for keeping the ground and attending to
salvage. Each company is supposed to be able, as a rule, to deal with
the fire in its own district without calling upon the company of an
adjoining district, and it is only in the case of a very serious fire
that additional companies are turned out. There is thus a system of
decentralization and independence of companies in this brigade not
often met with elsewhere. Firemen are paid one franc for each drill of
two hours. For fires, two francs for two hours, and fifty centimes per
hour afterwards. Refreshments are provided. Any telephone can be used
free by law for an alarm. The brigade has at its disposal an extension
telephone service, but the men are not all connected up with the
telephone of their respective districts, and thus the alarm is given
mainly with horns sounded by men who are on the telephone. No section
of the brigade has less than ten men on the telephone.
The water-supply is of a most excellent character. The appliances in
the main comprise hydrants and hose-reels with ladder trucks, and each
section has not less than 3000 ft. of hose. They are mainly housed in
small temporary corrugated iron sheds with roller shutter doors, to
which all the firemen have keys. There are some sixty of these hydrant
houses distributed round the city, the larger appliances being at
headquarters and at some depots.
Apart from the fact of there being the inspector or chief officer for
the whole district, with a certain permanent staff, each company might
be considered as a separate brigade, having its own chief officer and
staff, and independent organization, the organization of the
companies, however, being identical. A company comprises 1 chief
officer, 1 second officer, 1 doctor, 2 ambulance men and 6 orderlies,
a staff in charge, and the three sections have respectively 1
lieutenant, 1 deputy-lieutenant and 40 men for the fire service
section; 1 lieutenant, 1 deputy-lieutenant and 40 men for the
life-saving section, and 1 lieutenant, 1 deputy-lieutenant and 20 men
for the police section. Only in the case of sections 1 and 2 is there
some slight variation in the organization, namely, 1 and 2 sections
have been combined as a joint section, with an additional senior
officer. At Zurich, as in all Swiss fire brigades, there is an
extraordinary uniformity of drills, rules, regulations and
instructions in all its sections. In 1908 the brigade comprised 2268
in all ranks. There were about 70 fires in that year. (E. O. S.)
_United States._
Fire service in the United States has developed on so large a scale that
in 1902 it was estimated by P.G. Hubert ("Fire Fighting To-Day and
To-Morrow," _Scribner's Magazine_, 1902, 32, pp 448 sqq.) that in
proportion to population the fire force of America was nearly four times
that of Germany or France and about three times that of England. The
many fires consequent on wooden construction even in the large cities;
the bad effect of sudden climatic changes--drying, parching heat being
followed by weather so cold as to require artificial heating; the less
safe character of heating appliances; and, especially in tenements, the
more inflammable character of furniture, are some of the reasons
assigned for greater fire frequency in America. Fire-fighting service in
the United States is in no way connected with the military as it is on
the continent of Europe; the association of volunteer with paid firemen
is uncommon except in the suburban parts of the large cities, and in the
smaller cities and towns, where volunteers serving for a certain term
are, during that term and thereafter, exempt from jury duty.
_New York._--The fire department of New York City is the result of
gradual development. The first record of municipal action in regard to
fire prevention dates from 1659, when 250 leather buckets and a supply
of fire-ladders and hooks were purchased, and a tax of one guilder for
fire apparatus was imposed on every chimney; in 1676 fire-wells were
ordered to be dug; in 1686 every dwelling-house with two chimneys was
required to provide one bucket (if with more than two hearths, two), and
bakers and brewers had to provide three and six buckets respectively; in
1689 "brent-masters" or fire-marshals were appointed; in 1695 every
dwelling-house had to provide one fire-bucket at least; in 1730 two
Richard Newsham hand-engines were ordered from England, and soon
afterwards a superintendent of fire-engines was appointed on a small
salary; in 1736 an engine-house was built near the watch-house in Broad
Street, and an act of the provincial legislature authorized the
appointment of twenty-four firemen exempt from constable or militia
duty. Early in the 19th century volunteer fire companies increased
rapidly in numbers and in importance, especially political; and success
in a fire company was a sure path to success in politics, the best-known
case being that of Richard Croker, a member of "Americus 6," commonly
called "Big Six," of which William M. Tweed was organizer and foreman.
Parades of fire companies, chowder parties and picnics (predecessors of
the present "ward leader's outing") under the auspices of the volunteer
organizations, annual balls after 1829, water-throwing contests, often
over liberty poles, and bitter fights between different companies
(sometimes settled by fist duels between selected champions), improved
the organization of these companies as political factors if not as
fire-fighters. So devoted were the volunteers to their leaders that in
1836, when James Gulick, chief engineer since 1831, was removed from
office for political reasons, the news of his removal coming when the
volunteers were fighting a fire caused them all to stop their work, and
they began again only when Gulick assured them that the news was false;
almost all the firemen resigned until Gulick was reinstated. The type of
the noisy, rowdy New York volunteer fire hero was made famous in
1848-1849 by Frank S. Chanfrau's playing of the part Mose in Benjamin
Baker's play, _A Glance at New York_. The Ellsworth Zouaves of New York
were raised entirely from volunteer firemen of the city.
In 1865, when the volunteer service was abolished, it consisted of 163
companies (52 engines, 54 hose; 57 hook and ladder) manned by 3521 men
(engines averaging 40 to 60 men, hose-carts about 25, and hook and
ladder companies about 40); the chief engineer, elected with assistants
for terms of five or three years by ballots of the firemen, received a
salary of $3000 a year; and three bell-ringers in each of eight district
watch-towers, who watched for smoke and gave alarms, received $600 a
year. The legislature in March 1865 created a Metropolitan Fire District
and established therein a Fire Department, headed by four commissioners,
who with the mayor and comptroller constituted a board of estimate.
This organization was practically unchanged until 1898, when the Greater
New York was chartered and the present system was introduced. At its
head is a commissioner who receives $7500 a year. The more immediate
head of the firemen is a chief (annual salary $10,000), the only member
of the force not appointed on the basis of a civil service examination;
the chief has a deputy in Manhattan (for Manhattan, Bronx and Richmond
boroughs) and another for Brooklyn and Queens, each receiving an annual
salary of $5000.
In December 1908 there were: 14 deputy chiefs (eight in Manhattan,
Bronx and Richmond, and six in Brooklyn and Queens); 59 chiefs of
battalion (31 in Manhattan, Bronx and Richmond, and 28 in Brooklyn and
Queens); 248 foremen or captains (137 in Manhattan, Bronx and
Richmond, and 111 in Brooklyn and Queens), 365 assistant foremen (221
in Manhattan, Bronx and Richmond; and 144 in Brooklyn and Queens); 431
engineers of steamers (247 in Manhattan, Bronx and Richmond, and 184
in Brooklyn and Queens) and 2933 firemen (1772 in Manhattan, Bronx and
Richmond, and 1161 in Brooklyn and Queens); and the total uniformed
force was 4107. At the close of 1908 there were 88 engine
companies--at East 99th St., Battery Park, Grand St. (East River),
West 35th St., Gansevoort St. and West 132nd St.; and in Manhattan and
the Bronx there were 38 hook and ladder companies; in Brooklyn and
Queens there were 70 engine companies, including two fire-boat
companies--at 42nd St. and at North 8th St. The appropriations for the
year 1906 were $4,777,687 for Manhattan, Bronx and Richmond, and
$3,147,033 for Brooklyn and Queens; and the department expenses were
$3,980,535 for Manhattan, Bronx and Richmond, and $2,565,849 for
Brooklyn and Queens.
The first high-pressure main system in the city was installed at Coney
Island in 1905, gas-engines working the pumps. Electrically driven
centrifugal pumps are used in Brooklyn (protected area, 1360 acres)
and in Manhattan, where the system was introduced in 1908, and where
the protected district (1454 acres) reaches from the City Hall to 25th
St. and from the Hudson east to Second Avenue and East Broadway, being
the "Dry Goods District"; water is pumped either from city mains or
from the river, and the change may be made instantaneously. The fire
watch-tower system was abolished in 1869; the present system is that
of red box electric telegraph alarms, which register at headquarters
(East 67th St.), where an operator sends out the alarm to that
engine-house nearest to the fire which is ready to respond, and a
chart informing him of the absence from the engine-house of apparatus.
There are volunteer forces (about 2700 men) in Queens and Richmond
boroughs and in other outlying districts.
_Boston._--The Boston fire department (reorganized after the great
fire of 1872) is officered by a commissioner (annual salary, $5000), a
chief (annual salary, $4000), a senior deputy ($2400), and a junior
deputy ($2200), twelve district chiefs ($2000 each), a superintendent
and an assistant superintendent of fire-alarms, and a superintendent
and an assistant superintendent of the repair shop. In 1909 the force
numbered 877 regulars and 8 call men. There were 53 steam
fire-engines, 14 chemical engines, 3 water-towers, 3 combination
chemical engines and hose-wagons (one being motor-driven), 3
fire-boats (built in 1889, 1895 and 1909 respectively), 29
ladder-trucks and 49 hose-wagons. The auxiliary salt-water main
service was established in 1893. The earliest suggestion of the
application of the electric telegraph to a fire-alarm system was made
in Boston in 1845 by Dr Wm. F. Channing; in 1847-1848 Moses G. Farmer,
then a telegraph operator at Framingham, made a practicable electric
telegraph alarm; and in 1851-1855 Farmer became superintendent of the
Boston fire-alarm system, a plant being installed in 1852.[2]
_Chicago._--The Chicago organization practically dates from the fire
of 1871, though there was a paid department as early as 1858. Its
principal officers are a fire-marshal and chief of brigade (salary
$8000), four assistant fire-marshals, a department inspector, eighteen
battalion chiefs, a superintendent of machinery, a veterinary and
assistant, and about one hundred each of captains, lieutenants,
engineers and assistant engineers; the total regular force in 1908 was
1799 men with an auxiliary volunteer force of 71 in Riverdale, Norwood
Park, Hansen Park and Ashburn Park. In the business part of the city
there is a patrol of seven companies employed by the Board of Fire
Underwriters. Since 1895 all men in the uniformed force (except the
chief of brigade) are under civil service rules. In 1908 the equipment
included 117 engine companies, 34 hook and ladder companies, including
one water-tower, 15 chemical engines and one hose company; and there
were 5 fire-boats (4 active and 1 reserve). The first fire-boat was
built in 1883. The initial installation of high-pressure mains was
completed in 1902, and was greatly enlarged in 1908.
_Fire Appliances._
_Fire-Alarms._--Most large cities possess a system of electrical
fire-alarms, consisting of call boxes placed at frequent intervals along
the streets. Any one wishing to give notice of a fire either opens the
door of one of these boxes or breaks the glass window with which it is
fitted, and then pulls the handle inside, thus causing the particular
number allocated to the box, which of course indicates its position, to
be electrically telegraphed to the nearest fire station, or elsewhere as
thought advisable. Sometimes a telephone is fixed in each call-box.
Automatic fire-alarms consist of arrangements whereby an electric
circuit is closed when the surrounding air reaches a certain
temperature. The electric circuit may be used to start an alarm bell or
to give warning to a watchman or central office, and the devices for
closing it are of the most varied kinds--the expansion of mercury in a
thermometer tube, the sagging of a long wire suspended between
horizontal supports, the unequal expansion of the brass in a curved
strip of brass and steel welded together, &c.
_Fire-Engines._--The earliest method of applying water to the extinction
of fires was by means of buckets, and these long remained the chief
instruments employed for the purpose, though Hero of Alexandria about
150 B.C. described a fire-engine with two cylinders and pistons worked
by a reciprocating lever, and Pliny refers to the use of fire-engines in
Rome. In the 16th century (as at Augsburg in 1518) we hear of fire
squirts or syringes worked by hand, and towards the end of the same
century Cyprien Lucar described a very large one operated by a screw
handle. The fire squirts used in London about the time of the Great Fire
were 3 or 4 ft. long by 2-1/2 or 3 in. in diameter, and three men were
required to manipulate them. The next stage of development was to mount
a cistern or reservoir on wheels so that it was portable, and to provide
it with pumps which forced out the water contained in it through a fixed
delivery pipe in the middle of the machine. An important advance was
made in 1672 when two Dutchmen, Jan van der Heyde, senior and junior,
made flexible hose by sewing together the edges of a strip of leather,
and applied it for both suction and delivery, so that the engines could
be continuously supplied with water and the stream could be more readily
directed on the seat of the fire. For many years manual engines were the
only ones employed, and they came to be made of great size, requiring as
many as 40 or 50 men to work them; but now they are superseded by
power-driven engines, at least for all important services. The first
practical steam fire-engine was made by John Braithwaite about 1829, but
though it proved useful in various fires in London for several years
after that date, it was objected to by the men of the fire brigade and
its use was abandoned. A generation later, however, steam fire-engines
began to come into vogue. At first they were usually drawn by horses to
the scene of the fire, though exceptionally their engines could be
geared to the wheels so that they became self-propelled; and it was not
till the beginning of the 20th century that motor fire-engines were
employed to any extent. Steam, petrol and electricity have all been
used. Such engines have the advantage that they can reach a fire much
more rapidly than a horse-drawn vehicle, especially in hilly districts,
and they can if necessary be made of greater power, since their size
need not be limited by considerations of the weight that can be drawn by
horses. Petrol-propelled engines can be started off from a station
within a few seconds of the receipt of an alarm, and their pumps are
ready to work immediately the fire is reached; steam-propelled engines
possess the same advantage, if they are kept always standing under
steam, though this involves expense that is avoided with petrol engines,
which cost nothing for maintenance except while they are actually
working. Motor engines are made with a capacity to deliver 1000 gallons
of water a minute or even more, but the sizes than can deal with 400 or
500 gallons a minute are probably those most commonly used.
In towns standing on a navigable water-way fire-boats are often provided
for extinguishing fires in buildings, in docks and along the waterside.
The capacity of these may rise to 6000 gallons a minute. Steam is the
power most commonly used in them, both for propulsion and for pumping,
but in one built for Spezia by Messrs Merryweather & Sons of London in
1909, an 80 H. P. petrol engine was fitted for propulsion, while a steam
engine was employed for pumping. The boiler was fired with oil-fuel, and
steam could be raised in a few minutes while the boat was on its way to
a fire. The pumps could throw a 1-1/2-in. jet to a height of nearly 200
ft. In some places, as at Boston, Mass., the fire-boats are utilized for
service at some distance from the water. Fire-mains laid through the
streets terminate in deep water at points accessible to the boats, the
pumps of which can be connected to them and made to fill them with water
at high pressure. In cities where a high-pressure hydraulic supply
system is available, a relatively small quantity of the pressure water
can be used, by means of Greathead hydrants or similar devices, to draw
a much larger quantity from the ordinary mains and force it in jets to
considerable heights and distances, without the intervention of any
engine.
The water is conducted from the engines or hydrants in hose-pipes, which
are made either of leather fastened with brass or copper rivets, or of
canvas (woven from flax) which has the merit of lightness but is liable
to rot, or of rubber jacketed with canvas (or in America with cotton).
For directing the water on the fire, nozzles of various forms are
employed, some throwing a plain solid jet, others producing spray, and
others again combining jet and spray, the spray being useful to drive
away smoke and protect the firemen. Various devices are employed to
enable the upper storeys of buildings to be effectively reached. A line
of hose may be attached to a telescopic ladder, the extensions of which
are pulled out by a wire rope until the top rests on the wall of the
building at the required height. Water-towers enable the jet to be
delivered at a considerable height independently of any support from the
building. A light, stiff, lattice steel frame is mounted on a truck, on
which it lies horizontally while being drawn to a fire, but when it has
to be used it is turned to an upright position, often by the aid of
compressed gas, and then an extensible tube is drawn out to a still
greater height. The direction of the stream delivered at the top may be
controlled from below by means of gearing which enables the nozzle to be
moved both horizontally and vertically. The pipe up the tower may be of
large diameter, so that it can carry a huge volume of water, and at the
bottom it may terminate in a reservoir into which several fire-engines
may pump simultaneously.
Another class of fire-engines, known in the smaller portable sizes as
fire-extinguishers or "extincteurs," and in the larger ones as "chemical
engines," throw a jet of water charged with gas, commonly carbon
dioxide, which does not support combustion. Essentially they consist of
a closed metal tank, filled with a solution of some carbonate and also
containing a small vessel of sulphuric acid. Under normal conditions the
acid is kept separate from the solution, but when the machine has to be
used they are mixed together; in some cases there is a plunger
projecting externally, which when struck a sharp blow breaks the bottle
of acid, while in others the act of inverting the apparatus breaks the
bottle or causes it to fall against a sharp pricker which pierces the
metallic capsule that closes it. As soon as the acid comes into contact
with the carbonate solution carbon dioxide is formed, and a stream of
gas and liquid mixed issues under considerable pressure from the
attached nozzle or hosepipe. Hand appliances of this kind, holding a few
gallons, are often placed in the corridors of hotels, public buildings,
&c., and if they are well-constructed, so that they do not fail to act
when they are wanted, they are useful in the early stages of a fire,
because they enable a powerful jet to be quickly brought to bear; but it
is doubtful whether the stream of mixed gas and liquid they emit is much
more efficacious than plain water, and too much importance can easily be
attached to spectacular displays of their power to extinguish artificial
blazes of wood soused with petrol, which have been burning only a few
seconds. Chemical engines, up to 60 or 70 gallons capacity, are used by
fire brigades as first-aid appliances, being mounted on a horsed or
motor vehicle and often combined with a fire-escape, a reel of hose, and
other appliances needed by the firemen, and even with pumps for throwing
powerful jets of ordinary water. Large buildings, such as hotels and
warehouses, where a competent watchman is assumed to be always on duty,
may be protected by a large chemical engine placed in the basement and
connected by pipes to hydrants placed at convenient points on the
various floors. At each hose-station a handle is provided which when
pulled actuates a device that effects the mixing of the acid and
carbonate solution in the machine, so that in a minute or so a stream is
available at the hydrants.
_Automatic Sprinklers._--Factories, warehouses and other buildings in
which the fire risks are great, are sometimes fitted with automatic
sprinklers which discharge water from the ceiling of a room as soon as
the temperature rises to a certain point. Lines of pipes containing
water under pressure are carried through the building near the ceilings
at distances of 8 or 10 ft. apart, and to these pipes are attached
sprinkler heads at intervals such that the water from them is
distributed all over the room. The valves of the sprinklers are normally
kept closed by a device the essential feature of which is a piece of
fusible metal; this as soon as it is softened (at a temperature of about
160 deg. F.) by the heat from an incipient fire, gives way and releases
the water, which striking against a deflecting plate is spread in a
shower. In situations where the water is liable to freeze, the ceiling
pipes are filled only with air at a pressure of say 10 lb. per sq. in.
When the sprinkler head opens under the influence of the heat from a
fire, the compressed air escapes, and the consequent loss of pressure in
the pipes is arranged to operate a system of levers that opens the
water-valve of the main-feed pipe. The idea of automatic sprinklers is
an old one, and a system was patented by Sir William Congreve in 1812;
but in their present development they are specially associated with the
name of Frederick Grinnell, of Providence, Rhode Island.
_Fire-Escapes._--The best kind of fire-escape, because it is always in
place, and always ready for use, is an external iron staircase, reaching
from the top of a building to the ground, and connected with balconies
accessible from the windows on each floor. In many towns the building
by-laws require such staircases to be provided on buildings exceeding a
certain height and containing more than a certain number of persons. Of
non-fixed escapes, designed to enable the inmates of an upper room to
reach the ground through the window, numberless forms have been
invented, from simple knotted ropes and folding ladders to slings and
baskets suspended by a rope over sheaves fixed permanently outside the
windows, and provided with brakes by which the occupant can regulate the
speed of his descent, and to "chutes" or canvas tubes down which he
slides. Fire brigades are provided with telescopic ladders, mounted on a
wheeled carriage, up which the firemen climb; sometimes the persons
rescued are sent down a chute attached to the apparatus, but many fire
brigades think it preferable to rely on carrying down those who are
unable to descend the ladder unaided. Jumping sheets or nets, held by a
number of men, are provided to catch those whose only chance of escape
is by jumping from an upper window. (X.)