FIRE DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK

Fire Commissioner John H. O’Brien reports that during 1905 the policy of developing and extending the department and strengthening the various branches has been continued. The paid establishment has been extended to the borough of Richmond and the more thickly populated sections of Queens where not already covered by it. In Richmond fourteen companies in the paid service were put into commission. In Queens six companies were established. There are still extensions to be made in both boroughs.I he companies were located on the lines of the largest populations in localities. The fire department ot the city made greater strides last year than ever in its history. In Richmond fourteen companies were organised, and in Queens, six. In Manhattan and The Bronx four new companies were formed. There are now in Manhattan and ‘1 he Bronx eighty-three engines and twenty-nine trucks; in Brooklyn and Queens, sixty-eight engines and twenty-one trucks; in Richmond eight engines, a hose company and five trucks. The city lias seven fireboats, and three more are being built. He also makes public a letter which he sent to the mayor, recommending an issue of more than $6,000,000 in bonds for the betterment of the service during the next four years. He says the growth of the city has far outstripped the firefighting facilities. The commissioner says the department has outgrown the school for firemen, and ought to have in its place a firemen’s college, to cost $250,000. During 1905. 8,729 alarms were sounded. There were 201 more fires than in 1904. The loss was $5,271,955, or nearly $750,000 more than the year before. More explicit details are given farther on in this article. An entirely new fire alarm system is needed for Manhattan and The Bronx, and till that is installed, as a temporary reinforcement, the telephone service has been so satisfactorily arranged that every apparatus house can be reached from any part of the city, and each apparatus house can communicate with the others. The work of the bureau of violations and auxiliary fire appliances is now, after two years, producing results which demonstrate the value of a proper supervision over auxiliary fire appliances. Auxiliary fire protection, such as standpipes (fire lines) for buildings of unusual height, or area, and perforated pipes or automatic sprinklers for underground premises pesent problems new and varied, which are being handled with satisfactory results, not only to the men of the department, who operate the appliances at fires, but also, to the property owner who pays for the installation. The facilities for reaching fires more rapidly have been provided for by the gradual introduction of automobiles for the department, for the use of the chief officers, and these machines have proved a valuable adjunct to the fire department apparatus. The duties imposed upon the bureau of combustibles have been vastly increased by the enormous building operations which have been going on throughtout Greater New York for the last few years. A number of firemen, under the command of a captain of the department, have therefore, been detailed to the inspector of combustibles to aid in the inspection of the use of explosives at the points where the various construction operations are in progress. This plan has helped materially in safeguarding the lives and property of citizens. The report suggests the issue of bonds distributed over four years to meet the extra expense for rendering the fire protection of the city thoroughly efficient. It is estimated that for the installation of an entirely new and modern fire alarm system $2,000,000 can be profitably spent during the next four years. It is also necessary that the work of the school of instruction for firemen should be done on a much larger scale than at present. Greater room must be provided for the engineers who operate the engines. During 1882-83—the first year of the existing school of instruction on the fifth floor of headquarters’ building and the yard (for drilling)—in the yard—the average attendance was for many years continued to be about 100. On consolidation, however, Greater New York increased this number to 600–more in some years—too great a number for the school to handle properly and with justice to the men. The present premises and yard are now entirely inadequate. The fire commissioner, therefore, recommends building a college at a cost of $250,000 somewhere in The Bronx or in Richmond. An estimate is submitted of the expenses of the department for the four years of the present administration, and the total amount requested ns the appropriation is $9,262,loo. This includes additions to the uniformed force at a cost of $600,0001, and new apparatus and hose, $600,000. For Brooklyn and Queens is asked $1 .£43.000, of which $1,000,000 is for sites and buildings for new companies, and $200,000 for the equipment of new companies, while for Manhattan, The Bronx and Richmond is asked $6,120,400. The total fire loss, insured and uninsured, in Manhattan, The Bronx and Richmond, amounted to $5,271,955, of which $327.«xxi was on buildings and vessels; the estimated insurance amounted to $133,822, 119 on buildings and vessels; and on contents $28,519,182total. $162,341,305, total estimated insured loss, $416,815 ; average loss per fire, $680.25; number of fires. 7.750. In Brooklyn and Queens the total fire loss, insured and uninsured, for 3,774 alarms to actual fires was $2,117,559, of which $320,130 was on uninsured property; on insured buildings and vessels the loss was $1,825,659; on contents. $1,0814)03; on uninsured buildings and vessels. $118,1)65; on contents, $201,165; estimated insurance on buildings and vessels. $21,697,010; on contents, $10.286,68a -total. $31,983,690. In the fire department the superior officers of the uniformed force are as under: Chief; deputy chiefs, five; battalion chiefs, tw-entv-seven. Of foremen there are 112; assistant foremen. 169: engineers, 203; firemen, first grade, 811 ; second grade, 239; third grade, 266; fourth grade. 290; probationary, seven. There are four chaplains and six medical officers. There are also a chief constructor, and a chief of instruction, besides the attaches of the fire marshal’s office and those of the bureau of combustibles and the fire alarm telegraph. The water consumption at fires in Manbatatan and the Bronx was 103.984.484/) gals., of which 40,504,417 gals, were river water. In Brooklyn and Queens it was 27.349.328 gals., of which 8,427,723 gals, w’ere river water.