Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1885 — Steam Pipes in Buildings. [ARTICLE]

Steam Pipes in Buildings.

The idea that steam heating pipes can not S3t fire to wood is a popular error. One of the best proofs of their danger was afforded about a year ago in the house of Gen. Wager Swayne, in Gramercy Park. Steam pipes ran through a closet in the basement under the parlor floor and thence into the li-b-iary. An alarm of fire was given at a late hour one night, and when the firemen tore away the hardwood partitions they found that the wood work along which the steam pipes ran was scorched. The fire had begun in a wooden box into which the steam pipes entered before forming a coil in the parlor. It was easily got under control, but not before it had done about ten thousand dollars damage. The firemen are inclined to believe that much of their work in the downtown districts is due to nothing else than the lack of protection from steam pipes. The Fire Department has very stringent laws which it enforces in matters of this sort, and in the heating arrangements of new buildings the danger is carefully guarded against. When alterations are made and heating pipes are laid, less care is taken to prevent fire, and the result of this carelessness is the destruction of life and property.— New York Commercial Advertiser.