AROUND THE FIRE SERVICE–1879-1889
Excerpts from The National Fireman`s Journal and Fire & Water
Throughout the 1880s, fire incidents in most municipalities increased or remained about the same. Growing urban populations ensured the potential for catastrophe. At the same time, the fire community improved its firefighting capabilities and equipment (the 1880s, for example, saw the widespread use of workable aerial ladder turntables and aerial water towers). However, fire prevention and protection practices were far from ideal. Some of the major lessons derived from fire reports published in The Fireman`s Journal and Fire & Water were:
the need for a common hose thread;
the need for automatic fire alarm systems for large buildings connected to fire headquarters (the precursor of interior pull boxes);
the need for closing off elevator hatchways, thereby reducing smoke migration throughout the building through the open vertical flue;
the need for standpipes in all high-rise buildings inaccessible to water towers and ladders;
the need for separate water supply systems for downtown urban districts;
the need for stricter codes and code enforcement with respect to occupancy usage and fire loading. It was not uncommon, for example, for large machinery such as printing presses to be installed on the sixth floor (in one case, a printing press did in fact collapse the six floors below it, landing in the basement), or for high-rise offices to contain heavily varnished walls and furnishings; and
the need to resolve the question of whether large (solid) streams or small (fog) streams were best for extinguishment of fires in buildings.
Buildings vs. Firefighters… The main cause of the rapid spreading of fires through buildings, attendees at the New York State Association of Underwriters were told by a consulting architect who presented the paper “The Relation of Architecture to Underwriting,” was “the want of a proper system of compartments, whereby a fire can be confined to the place where it originates until it is extinguished.” …. In a paper read before the New York Municipal Society in 1879, Mr. A. J. Bloor `strongly and sensibly` suggested that the duties of the Building Department be incorporated wholly within the regular functions of the Fire Department (a view “always maintained” by The Journal) …. “which has as one of its principal duties to see that buildings are proofed against fire ….” New York City (April 18, 1885). A row of eight buildings under construction came crashing to the ground, burying 15 to 20 workmen. Members of several hook and ladder trucks began clearing away ruins to rescue them. All ambulances in the city were called, as well as a large force of firemen and a re-serve of policemen to keep back the crowd. “The firemen had a long, tedious day`s work, extending into the night handling the debris of these buildings, under the belief that human lives were in peril. Such work should not be required of them, for they have enough to do.” The introduction of tiles for roofing purposes was regarded as “a decided step in the direction of the best fireproof construction.” “There is no class of buildings in the country, of approximate value, that are so poorly provided with means for the prevention or extinguishment of fire as those owned by the Government. How utterly they are at the mercy of the flames was illustrated by the great fire in the Patent Office at Washington, some time ago. The fire occurred in the upper story, and subsequent examination showed that the upper floors were stored with highly inflammable material, and that the faulty construction of the build
How Some Depart-ments Did It Then … Driving horses when proceeding to a fire at a faster gait than a trot has been strictly prohibited by Chief Cantlin, of the Philadelphia Fire Department. On July 1, 1887, Eli Bates, chief of the New York City Fire Department, issued the following order: “A portable Water Tower, for the purpose of delivering an effective stream of water in the upper floors of the buildings that cannot be reached with ladders, has been placed on trial in this Department.” After many adjournments of the Minneapolis, Minnesota, Council, “an ordinance was finally passed June 27, 1879, authorizing the organization of a paid fire de-partment by the chief. Salaries were fixed as follows: Men $240 a year. Call Foremen $300. Permanent Foremen $725 a year. Call men to be in the houses from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m and to answer alarms during the day.” The Fire Commissioners of the City of New York in 1883 took the first steps toward “establishing a school of instruction for all applicants for appointment in the Department … Assistant Chief Bonner … has submitted a plan for continuing the practical instruction of the men already in service, as well as of those seeking appointment … Opportunity will also be given to those already in the service to perfect themselves in such knowledge as will increase their chances for promotion …” In 1888, only 31 permits for the sale of fireworks at retail were issued in New York, compared with about 2,100 in the previous year. The reason? “Stringent and sensible rules adopted by the Fire Commission-ers…over two thousand and fifty toy, stationery and confectionery dealers have given up the sale of these dangerous wares.”
Short Takes … The annual loss by fire in the United States around 1879 was estimated at nearly $100,000,000. The total expenditures of the Pittsburgh (PA) Fire Department for the year 1878 were $130,830.76, of which the payment of salaries amounted to $103,774.38. “Sawdust is the latest explosive. By an explosion of this substance in Ottawa, several persons were seriously injured.” The great majority of the Chiefs of Fire Departments in the State of Michigan are strict temperance men. “The Houston, Texas, papers print a communication from the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, in which he says that the Department is crippled and rendered useless because of the inability of the Council to provide feed for the horses.” “The village of White Plains, N.Y., is entirely without apparatus for the extinguishment of fires. All efforts to organize and equip a company of Firemen have failed.” “At last! Chicago Firemen were recently paid their April and May (1879) salaries. In scrip, too. Worth about ninety-three cents on the street.”
Adapting to the Changing Times … The city of Chicago was taken to task in an editorial for the “pernicious practice of testing hose under fancy pressure,” in which “cotton and rubber hose were subjected to upward of 400 pounds pressure, placing a strain on the hose that it would never receive in actual service ….” and “practically ruining the hose before service.” Editor Clifford Thomson maintained that hose “subjected to the requirements only of actual fire service” instead of being tested in this manner would probably have lasted five or six years instead of “going to pieces within a year.” Advocating “fair play,” Thomson asserted: “If manufacturers are to be held in a penal bond to replace hose that fails within a given time, the fire department should give some assurance that it will be properly cared for; that it will not be left to rot whenever it is wet, but hung up to dry and air; that it will not be run over by steam engines, hose carriages, and other vehicles, when stretched in the street; and that care will be taken at fires to prevent its destruction by chemicals and other substances that are fatal to it.”
Health and Safety… Firemen “should be encouraged to better physical development.” To Editor Thomson, this meant that “their houses should be fitted up with the necessary appliances for gymnastic exercises and every facility for hardening the muscles and giving the men confidence in themselves and competitive trials in feats of strength and agility should be encouraged by the giving of prizes to the best athletes….”
A National Fire Bureau … “In view of the terrible waste of property in this country every year by fire, amounting to a national calamity, and of the ignorance or carelessness of the masses regarding the means of fire prevention and extinction, our national government should, without delay, take measures to secure the citizens that protection from this destructive element that they are unable or unwilling to provide for themselves. We are aware that it is claimed that the national government has no right to interfere with State or local affairs, but when the neglect of communities to take care of themselves involves the entire nation in losses, or imperils its safety, the government certainly has the right to interfere …. Insurance is, essentially, a branch of inter-State commerce, and should be controlled by, and receive protection from, the national government …. (May 1879) It was proposed that since the U.S. government is a large purchaser of fire apparatus and supplies of all kinds, a Fire Department Bureau should be “attached to the Treasury Department, and some thoroughly competent Fireman, whose practical experience has made him familiar with the merits of all apparatus and supplies, should be selected as its chief …. The chief should also be made chargeable with the organization of fire departments in the government service wherever required, and with the care of apparatus wherever possible ….”
Associations … Fire service organizations played a part in pre-paring fire departments to meet the challenges that ac-company growth and transition …. Among the items on the agenda for the Minnesota State Firemen`s Association Convention in January 1879 were the following: “The duty of fire departments in relation to the protection from damage by water as well as fire”; “Should a uniform hose coupling be adopt-ed, and is it practicable?”; “The best method for caring for and preserving hose”; and “How to promote the greatest interest in fire companies, tending to promote efficiency and financial success.” The Sixth Annual Convention of the Firemen`s Association of the State of New York was held at Canandaigua, August 19, 20, 21, 1879. Some of the topics discussed were “Chemical engines and their efficiency as auxiliaries to fire departments”; “The care of hose, and have there been any improvements made during the past year?” and “Driven wells for fire purposes, and are they practical and efficient?” At the Annual Convention of the National Association of Fire Engineers held in 1879, the topics of discussion were “Obligations of Fire Insurance Companies to Firemen,” “Fire Alarm Telegraph or Telephone,” “Fire Patrols and Salvage Corps,” “Direct Pressure Water Works,” and “The Care of Hose.”
Overhead Wires: A New Hazard … While telephone and telegraph wires were extensive, they carried smaller current compared to those of electric light wires. If electric light wires crossed with telephone and telegraph wires, the more powerful light current would be carried back to telephones and telegraphs, destroying them and setting fire to any nearby combustible material. A electric light wire crossed a fire telegraph wire and destroyed the electromagnets of a dozen alarm boxes in New York City. At a fire, telegraph wires fell across an electric light wire and be-came entangled in a fireman`s hose. The fireman received a severe shock in trying to untangle the hose from the wires. One suggestion was to provide firemen properly guarded switches or some other means of cutting off electric current. Another suggestion was to either securely box or bury electric currents. (March 1883)
A Chicago ordinance requiring that all telegraph wires be placed underground was to have been enforced by May 1, 1883, but injunctions obtained by telegraph companies delayed it.
Experts are divided on whether electric light wires strung on poles are dangerous to life and property. “Many instances have been reported where the strong current of electricity used for lighting purposes, when turned from the wires by an accident, has set buildings on fire and destroyed property attached to telegraphic, telephone, and fire alarm systems; but that such accidents have ever caused the death of any person is emphatically denied by several experts, while others are equally certain that if such fatality has never occurred as yet it is liable to at any moment.” (January 1884)
High Buildings and Large Streams “The Perils of High Buildings” article that had appeared in a previous edition drew marked attention and was published in various journals. The article “attempted to convey that high buildings being conceded to be necessary to the commercial demands of the age, the owners of such buildings should be compelled to equip them with fire extinguishing appliances of a nature that would meet the approval of the officials of the Fire Departments.”
Some, including the Chicago underwriters, advocated that the height of buildings be limited to 75 or 80 feet, on the basis that “no combination of engine power can force an effective stream to a greater height than this.” Standpipes, they said, did not furnish additional power. The Fireman`s Journal pointed out that “streams cannot be forced to a greater height in the open air because of the resistance presented by the atmosphere,” but noted that “standpipes, when properly constructed, are better than hose for [keeping the water together], for there is more solidity and less friction in them, and very little danger of bursting.”
The author cited various “experiments that showed what may be done by a skillful combination of engine power.” One such experiment, described in the New York Daily Times (April 27, 1883), tested “the value of quadruple or `four-way` and double or `two-way` Siamese butts or connecting joints, by which four or two streams of water can be connected with a fire nozzle, and the capacity of the two powerful engines [Nos. 7 and 33] use them …. The `four-way` butt …. required the use of four engines, one at each of the hose connecting with the butt …. the hose attached to the `four-way` butt was 212 inches in diameter, that of the `two-way` butt 314 inches … the engines were attached to hydrants by 412-inch suction hose …. The engines were started, and the nozzle, which had an iron support, was manned by the Firemen. The nozzle was held at an angle of 30 degrees, and stream was driven through a 2-inch nozzle at 285 feet. When the nozzle was held perpendicularly, it threw a stream 35 to 40 feet higher than the roof of the Grand Central Hotel, which is 10612 feet above the street. At the hydrants was a water pressure of about 12 pounds to the square inch. At the engine the water pressure was 135 pounds to the square inch, and the steam pressure was 105 pounds. At the indicator beyond the junction of the hose at the butt, the pressure was from 78 to 85 pounds, showing a loss of from 45 to 50 per cent of power by friction. It should be stated that the distance of No. 7 from the nozzle was 200 feet, and the hose from No. 33 was so arranged that it was of the same length. This explains the friction. Then two lines of 212-inch hose, each 200 feet long, were attached to each engine and were led to the `four-way` butt. When the water was started the stream was `sprayey,` and fell short of that thrown by the `two-way`–25 feet horizontally and 30 feet perpendicularly. Then three 212-inch hoses were attached to the Engine No. 33, and were led to the `four-way` butt, … Thi
“The last experiment was to ascertain if two engines close together could draw water from the same hydrant and work independent or combined by means of an artificial reservoir, which can be carried on any engine. A round canvas well, 4 feet wide and 20 inches high, was placed near No. 33`s hydrant, and a 412-inch suction hose was attached to the hydrant, and the end was placed in the well….The experiment was a complete success, as both engines had plenty of water ….”
The editorialist in The Journal concluded that if there had been a “three or three and a half inch standpipe on the Grand Central Hotel, this `combination of engine power` would have projected a vertical stream at least 100 feet above the roof.” (June 1883) n
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November 27, 1886: “In treating of matters connected with the fire service of the country, we have found, from the first issue of The Journal, that we were obliged to treat to some extent of the water service as well…. It has been deemed wise, therefore, to enlarge the field of The Journal, and to embrace the subject of hydraulics so far as it relates to the matter of fire protection. Hence, we this week drop the name by which we have been known for nearly ten years, and adopt that of Fire and Water, which more nearly describes the combined interests to which we shall hereafter devote our energies.”
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HAYES EXTENSION LADDER
This telescopic ladder (made of Oregon pine) had a total length of between 60 and 85 feet when fully extended, and revolved on a turntable. The First Class version total weight was about 6,800 pounds, and included Oregon pine ladders of 12, 16, 18, 21, 24, 26, and 28 feet; two short-handled hooks, two long-handed hooks, one chain hook, two crotch poles, two steel crowbars, four fire axes with pike heads, four pitchforks; four leather fire buckets; 175 feet of manilla rope with tackle and block for hoisting hose; one oil can; seven nickel-plated brass lanterns; one bell or gong; and all necessary wrenches, spanners, and tools for working the truck. (April 1883)
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SOMERVILLE EXTENSION LADDER
This ladder was made in two sections, to extend from 25 to 90 feet. It featured automatic hooks which would not catch on the rungs (or “rounds”) and interfere with raising or lowering the ladder. Slide irons on the tip ladder`s butt kept the tip ladder in proper position, a feature that “will commend itself to all who have had experience with the working of other ground extension ladders.” (December 1886)
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GASKILL`S VERTICAL PUMPING ENGINE
Gaskill`s vertical engines were used extensively in water-works systems, especially in connection with the Holly system of direct pumping. The vertical steam cylinders made it possible to place the pumps at any desired distance below the engine-room floor, to accommodate the engines to situations where the water level the source of supply fluctuated. The pumps usually had single-acting plungers, one under each steam cylinder, with outside packing and separate valve boxes. Double-acting plungers could also have been used equally as well and were preferred in some situations. The beam was made with side pieces of heavy steel plate, with cast-iron hubs bolted in for the reception of the center shaft and connection pins. The steam pistons traveled simultaneously in opposite directions, and the valve action had the same effect in the steam distribution as the valve action of the horizontal pumping engine, which was also available. All of the engine parts were attached to the one-piece base casting, making the engine self-contained and extremely rigid. (November 1886)
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BRESNAN`S HOSE HOIST AND WATER DISTRIBUTOR
The hoist used rollers to ease the burden of stretching hose, which might have required a dozen men to accomplish. An advertisement claimed that “three or four men are able to stretch in and get into position within half the time that it now takes twelve or fifteen men to do exactly the same work.” The water distributor consisted of a combined shutoff nozzle and distributor, which was a brass bulb with nine half-inch openings that distributed the water horizontally and vertically. The distributor also revolved, throwing water 50 to 60 feet in all directions. It was patented in 1886.
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THE HOLLAND MAMMOTH PLAYPIPE
This jointed playpipe allowed the pipeman to turn the stream in any direction without “lighting up” on the line of the hose or getting bends in it. The pipe could be raised and revolved in any direction. The perforated revolving disc made it possible to deliver four different streams, ranging from 114 inches to 278 inches, without interrupting the stream. The device was mounted on a light carriage equipped with 10 siamese connections with clapper valves, three on each side, and four in the rear. (April 1883)
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D. A. WOODHOUSE SIAMESE CONNECTION,
LARGE PLAYPIPE AND PLAYPIPE HOLDER
Many fire departments wanted large streams for fire extinguishing. The siamese coupling featured here allowed three streams to flow into a length of 312-inch hose, and each siamese inlet`s valve was operated by water pressure, the valve closing when the water was shut off. The playpipe had nozzles that varied from 112 to 212 inches. A stickholder support allowed two pipemen to manage the large volume of water discharged. (October 1886)
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The Great Grain Elevator Fire, which occurred in New York City on April 18, 1889, consumed the grain elevators of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, between 59th and 65th streets and the Hudson River. The loss was estimated to be between $2 and $3 million.
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In America, there are twelve steam fire engine builders regularly engaged in manufacture, as follows: Clapp & Jones, of Hudson, N.Y.; Silsby, of Seneca Falls, N.Y.; La France, of Elmira, N.Y.; Hunniman, of Boston, Mass.; Button & Son, of Waterford, N.Y.; Nefi & Levi, of Philadelphia; Ives & Bro, of Baltimore; Cole Brothers, Pawtucket, R.I.; Jeffers, of Pawtucket; Ahrens & Co., and Latta, of Cincinnati, O. The Amoskeag Co. of Manchester, N.H., and the Paterson Engine Works of Paterson, N.J. (From the paper entitled “The Steam Fire Engine,” September 1879)
The Standard Coupling
Although it was widely accepted that a standardized hose coupling thread was “of utmost importance to fire departments,” reaching a consensus on what that thread should be was not an easy task. One of the reasons cited for the delay was that “Every department thinks it has the best coupling in use and is unwilling to change ….” A recommendation was made in 1879 that the standardized thread be 212 inches with a 338-inch outside diameter for the male coupling and 8 threads to the inch. The recommendation was termed “impracticable.” The National Association of Fire Engineers appointed a committee of five “to consider the question of a standard uniform thread for hose couplings for fire departments ….” The committee was instructed “to consult with manufacturers of couplings, and obtain from them samples of couplings and suggestions as to the best thread to be adopted as standard and report at the next Convention of this Association; with a further recommendation that a suitable bill be drafted and submitted to Congress, praying that the standard hereafter adopted by this Association shall be enforced in all fire departments, under suitable penalties ….”
Scientific Knowledge and the Fire Service
The Washington (DC) Fire Department`s Chief Martin Cronin declared that while fire service experience is important, a scientific knowledge of all conditions involving a fire is essential. “… I think that the fireman of the future, in the proper acceptation of the term will be the one who has given his days and nights to the study of thermodynamics … At the critical point of a fire, as before stated, how much property and how many lives have been lost for the want purely of scientific knowledge and foreknowledge may never be known; but the scientific fireman of the future, with improved scientific methods, when he compares his records with those of the past, will be able to form a vivid idea of what is scientific and what is practical knowledge in his profession. The diminished losses in property and lives will show him what a vast difference there is between the two, and that the true way will be both scientific and practical.” (December 1883)
