Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 284, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 November 1919 — Fire the Great Destroyer [ARTICLE]

Fire the Great Destroyer

Fire not only destroys about $300,000,000 worth of property annually in the United States, but 15,000 people are burned to death and 50,000 are injured by fire each year. Most of the victims are women and children. . It is an established fact that most fires are preventable and due to the careless habits of the American people. Europe, by being careful, has an annual per capita fire loss of less than 30 cents. Ours was $2.63 last year. More than half our fires are in homes. The majority of these occur because of defective furnaces and flues, faulty electric wiring, careless smokers, open lights, thoughtless use of electric appliances, rubbish, careless use of matches, gasoline and kerosene, and other easily avoidable causes. Therefore the following suggestions are made: Make sure your heating plant and appurtenances are in safe condition before starting fire for winter. Paper flue-stops court disaster. Place ashes in metal cans, never in wooden receptacles. Examine electric wiring for worn insulation and defects in installation. t Protect open lights with globes. :%? Clean up rubbish, especially in basements, attics and back yards, and keep clean. Use gasoline, if you must use it, only "with greatest care and never near a fire. The vapor from one gallon of gasoline has an explosive force equal to 83 pounds of dynamite. Never fill kerosene lamps while lighted. Never use kerosene to start fires. Keep matches in metal boxes and away from children. Never discard a match until the last spark is out. Place used matches in metal receptacles. Never throw them on the floor or in waste baskets. Oil mops and oily rags ignite from spontaneous combustion. Keep them in closed metal receptacles. Never leave an electric iron, or other electric heating device, even for a minute, without disconnecting at the socket. Careless smokers cause thousands of fires, costing many lives. Cigaret butts and cigar stubs should be extinguished before being discarded and care should be used in depositing pipe ashes. Observance of these and other simple precautions will do much to reduce our fire waste. It is the duly of every person to assume a sense of personal prevent fires and to be careful at all times and in all places under conditions likely to cause fires.