Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 113, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 May 1913 — Fire Marshal Will Send Word to Aids Here. [ARTICLE]

Fire Marshal Will Send Word to Aids Here.

Township trustees, town clerks, and fire chiefs in this county will probably receive this week full instructions concerning their duties' as assistants to the State Fire Marshal, together wtih the proper forms and blanks for thei? records and reports. >' These town, city and township officials, in every county in Ipdiana, are designated as assistants to the State Fire Marshal under the new Fire Marshal law, and they are, by law, required to perform certain duties. The preparation and printing of the forms and blanks for the Fire Marshal assistants has required considerable time, but the work has been pushed and it is believed by Fire Marshal Longley, that he will be able to have them in his assistant’s hands within a few days. Each assistant to the Fire Marshal is required to report promptly to the Fire Marshal each fire as it occurs in any assistant’s territory. Fire JVlarshal Longley is impressing his assistants that this report must be made at once. In general the duties of his as-, sistants throughout the state relate to inspection and investigation. Fire Chiefs are being asked to jnake inspections and to report conditions that are deemed hazardous. In his letter to fire chiefs, Fire Marshal Longley asks their support and co-operation, and calls their attention to certain sections of the new law defining their duties and compensation. “I also want to ask you to make a thorough Inspection of all property in your jurisdiction and report to me any situation which you may be for any reason unable to handle,” says Fire Marshal Longley. “Upon receipt of such information, I will send my deputy to help you remedy the evil.” In his letter to township trustees, he says; “I urge you to study this law diligently; thoroughly acquaint yourself with your duties under it, and be fully qualified to discharge them. If a fire occurs that looks suspicious as to its origin call me by telephone.” Prompt investigation by this great state organization of assistants, will, it is believed, bring to light facts concerning the origin of fires which might be lost otherwise. If a fire is of incendiary origin, a prompt report to this effect will bring assistance from the Fire Marshal’s office in a further investigation, and prosecution when warranted by facts. In other states where the Fire Marshal law has been enacted, these investigations have resulted in many convictions for arson. And likewise, public knowledge that every fire is to be investigated thoroughly will, It is found, discourage arson. The persistent system of inspection by assistants in the state, as well as deputies from the Fire Marshal’s office, will result in the elimination of conditions that breed fire and will consequently reduce fire damage.