Fireproof
proof against fire, incombustible. Buildings are rendered fireproof by constructing them entirely of brick or stone, and using iron doors, lintels, etc., and stone stairs. Wood can be treated with silicate of soda, which, on the application of a strong heat, fuses into a kind of glass, forming a shield against fire. Cloth or wood impregnated with certain saline substances will not blaze. Borax, alum, and phosphate of soda or ammonia are recommended as most suitable for this purpose. By treating cloth with graphite in a bath in which the mineral is suspended, and then subjecting it to the action of the electro-metallic bath, the cloth may be coated with metal. Woolen and ordinary stuffs may be treated with borax, alum, or soluble glass, but these cannot well be applied to the lighter descriptions, which are most liable to take fire.
Fireproof building, a term somewhat loosely applied, and may be held to mean: (1) A building absolutely incombustible, such as one whose walls, floors, FIRE PROTECTION and roofs are of metal, stone, brick, or cement. (2) A building capable of opposing the access of fire from without, having walls, window shutters, and roofs which are incombustible from external flame and heat. Fireproof structure, a vault, safe, or building proof against destruction by fire, either from the outside or by the burning of its contents.
FIRE PROTECTION. From the very earliest times, since men first began to live together in communities, organized fire protection has been a function of local government. So far as despatch and efficiency are concerned, the municipal fire department of ancient Rome was little behind the fire departments of modern cities at the present time. In various districts of the city brigades of fire fighters were barracked, whose members were ever ready to respond to the call of the fire guardians, sentinels stationed in high towers, watching for the first signs of a blaze. At the sound of the bucina, as the horn which sounded the alarm was called, the Roman firemen hurried to the scene of the fire, equipped with ladders, axes, buckets, and even with a large water squirt on wheels, which was fed water with buckets. Directing the operations of the brigades was the fire centurion, corresponding to our fire chief, who arrived in a special chariot drawn by four fleet horses.
Pumps, hose and, above all, municipal water systems, have brought about improved equipment for fire fighters since then, but hardly any better organization.
In no country in the world has fire protection reached so high a degree of perfection as in the United States, for the simple reason that in no other country has there ever been so high a percentage of loss through fire. Whether because of the fact that frame houses are more common here, or that the American people are naturally more careless, statistics prove that the loss of property from fire in this country, amounting to about $15 per family each year, is ten times greater than in any other country.
Instead of exercising precaution through legislation or by fixing legal responsibility on house owners, American cities have, instead, organized remarkably efficient fire departments, whose contingents have invariably won the competition prizes at the international expositions. Throughout the country towns volunteer fire departments are still the rule, but in every community approaching the dignity of a municipality paid fire fighters are maintained. 7 FIRE WORSHIPERS Within the past few years, however, notably since the big fire in San Francisco, in 1906, the emphasis has been placed on prevention, rather than on fighting fires already started. In practically all cities strict ordinances are passed regarding fireproof structures in the commercial districts. But not only must the buildings themselves be built of fireproof material, but wired glass for windows must be used, floors must be insulated, to prevent heat being transmitted from the burning contents of one story to material above or below. The most effective device for the prevention of fire is the automatic fire sprinkler, whose use makes a difference of from fifty to seventy-five per cent. in the cost of insurance. The principle of the automatic fire sprinkler is quite simple. Pipes, filled with a continuous supply of water, pass back and forth under the ceiling, perforated with holes which are plugged with wax, or a soft solder. With a rise in the temperature above a certain degree, these plugs melt and the water begins pouring forth. It has been estimated that the automatic sprinkler has reduced the loss by fire in commercial districts by at least 70 per cent. te simple.