Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1886 — Clothing on Fire. [ARTICLE]

Clothing on Fire.

A girl or woman who meets with this abend en t sbouldimmedistely lie: down on the floor, and so any one who gook to her assistance^should instantly, if slto hp still erect, make her iie.’down, or/ if needful, throw her into a horizontal position and keep her in it. Sparks fly upward and flames ’ascend. Ignition from below mounts with, fearful rapidity, and, as a result well known to experts, 4fce fatality or disfigurement in these lamentable eases is due to the burns inflicted about the ltody, neck, face, and head, and not to injuries of the lower limbs. Now, the very moment that the person whose clothes are on fire is in a horizontal position on a flat surface, the flames still ascend, but only into the air, and pot encircling the victim. Time is thus gained lor further action, and in such a crisis in a fight against lire, a few seconds are precious, nay, priceless. Once in the prone position the person afflicted may crawl to a bellpull or to a door, so as to clutch at the one or open the other to obtain help. The draught from an open door into the room would serve to blow r the flames, if any, away from the body; or again, still crawling, the sufferer may be able to secure a rag or table cover, or other articles at hand to smother any remaining flames. I say remaining flames, for as soon as the horizontal position is assumed they have no longer much to feed upon, and may either go out, as the phrase is, or may be accidentally or intentionally extinguished as the person rolls or moves upon the floor. In any case, not only is time gained but the injury inflicted is minimized. ~ In the event of the conditions not being those of self help but of assistance from another, if it be a man who comes to the rescue,- having first or instantly. thrown the girl or woman down it is easy to take off liis coat and so stifle the diminished flame with this or some other suitable covering, the flames playing now upward from the lower limbs or lower part of the body of the prostrate fellow-creature. If it be a woman who rushes to give aid this last named condition suggests that the safer mode of rendering it is to approach the sufferer and fling something thence over the lower part of the body, for fear of setting fire to herself. If in these fearful accidents the horizontal position be assumed or enforced there would be, in short, comparative immunity and limited injury. , If not, what must happen? The fire -willmount, the flames (and it is these which do the injury) will envelop the body, inside and outside the clothes, and will reach the neck and head, and then, indeed, they may be smothered by a coat or wrapper or rug, while the victim is frightfully disfigured or is doomed to perish, ————- —- For many years J have urged these views while lecturing on injuries from burns,'and hence I have an occasion to illustrate them practically, though in a comparatively trival accident. Some dressings of a very inflammatory cliarr acter caught fire at the bedside Of a patient in one of my surgical wards ; they were promptly seized by student, who threw them iuto the middle of the ward and endeavored to stamp out the flaming material. But this, containing paraffine and resin, adhered to his boots; and bis legs, as he danced about, were getting uncomfortably hot. To his astonishment, and to the undoubted surprise of every one in sight, I caught him by the collar of his coat and tripped up his legs. Instantly the flames became harmless and were extinguished by the nurse throwing a jug of water on them.— John Marshall.