CHAPTER V. SAFEGUARDS AGAINST FIRE. INTRODUCTION. Fire risks, both to property and person, are of such an evident character as to call for no comment. Such risks are extremely pertinent to modern factory buildings, but not peculiarly so. Other classes of buildings, such as theaters, hotels, and hospitals, are subject to fire dangers of as significant a character as are factories. As a result, laws regarding fire protection are usually very broad. in their scope and are frequently regarded as not forming part of the so-called labor laws. The enforcement of such laws, for instance, although sometimes intrusted to the regular factory inspection department, is frequently charged to other special authorities, such as local building inspectors or local fire departments. This is particularly the case in many of the larger cities, where the fire laws are very often contained in the municipal building codes and municipal ordinances, and the enforcement thereof is made a local matter. less than half of the States covered by this investigation were the important laws regarding fire protection State laws and wholly under the jurisdiction of the State factory inspection department.1 In Because of this and because of the further fact that fire protection is in considerable part a highly technical subject, the present investigation did not attempt a thorough study of this subject. All that was attempted was to obtain information upon a few significant points, the determination of which did not involve technical matters of a disputed character. Safeguards against fire may be grouped under four main heads: (1) Fire prevention; (2) fire-resisting construction; (3) fire escapes; and (4) fire extinction. The present investigation was limited almost entirely to safeguards falling under the latter two groups. It is to be noted, however, that it is the safeguards within these two groups that most frequently are made subjects of legislation. The information obtained, therefore, although insufficient in many cases to show whether particular buildings were or were not "safe," is sufficient to 'The laws referred to throughout this volume are as in force at the time of the investigation. December, 1998, to April, 1909. The text of the laws in force Jan. 1, 1912, is given in the appendixes at the end of this volume. 2 This classification is made by Calder, The Prevention of Factory Accidents, p. 248. indicate roughly the success of certain laws and the degree in which the several establishments had sought to safeguard their employees from the risks of fire. To cite an extreme example, the fact that a 4-story frame factory building has one or more fire escapes does not necessarily render the employees therein safe from fire risks. But the fact that such a building has no fire escapes, or that the fire escapes provided are themselves combustible, does indicate a marked disregard for the safety of such employees. Below is given for each State separately a statement of the laws relative to safeguards against fire and a tabular summary of the obtained data regarding existing conditions. The table used separates the buildings of the several establishments into two main divisions, according as the material of construction is or is not frame. The buildings of each of these divisions are grouped according to height, and the table shows for each group the number of buildings having specified safeguards against the dangers due to fire. The safeguards specified are these: Fire escapes, doors opening outward, stairways lighted and handrailed, fire-fighting apparatus of various kinds, exit signs or lights, and fire drills. The following explanatory remarks may be made as to the use of terms in this table, etc.: 1. Fire escapes.-The term "fire escape" includes any form of emergency stairway exit, whether of the ordinary outside fire-escape type, or inclosed inside stairway, or the so-called "tower fire escape,' provided that such escapes are of fireproof construction. In a number of instances buildings were equipped with so-called "fire escapes" partly or wholly of wood. Buildings having no other escapes than these are classed as not having fire escapes. In some cases adequate fire escapes were rendered much less useful by obstructions to the entrances. The number of buildings in which escapes were so obstructed in any degree is shown in the table. 2. Exit doors.-The table shows the number of buildings in which all exit doors opened outward, and also the number in which exit doors were obstructed by locking, furniture, etc. No distinction is here made between hall doors and external doors. 3. Stairways. The proper lighting and handrailing of stairways is of importance in preventing accident even when the question of fire does not enter. In a period of excitement due to fire, however, these precautions are of increased importance. The law sometimes accepts the inclosing of a stairway with walls in lieu of handrails, but in this table such inclosing is not regarded as a satisfactory alternative. 4. Fire apparatus.-The forms of fire-extinguishing apparatus included in the table are: (a) Fire extinguishers, (b) fire hose, (c) the sprinkler system, (d) standpipes, and (e) fire buckets. Fire hose is considered as being provided only when inside the building, and special note is made of those buildings where such hose is on all floors. Also fire buckets are not considered as being provided unless they are kept full of water. 5. Exit lights or signs.-Lights and signs are alternative methods of indicating exits either to stairways or to fire escapes or to main doors. 6. Fire drills.-A fire drill is considered as being effective only when it includes all employees, or at least a large portion thereof, and when the drilling is sufficiently frequent to render the employees familiar therewith. Finally, it is to be noted that except in the matter of fire drills the entries in the table represent buildings. In case an establishment had more than one building and the several buildings were not uniform as regards fire protection, the principal building was selected for tabulation. The laws referred to throughout this volume are as in force at the time of the investigation, December, 1908, to April, 1909. The text of the laws in force January 1, 1912, is given in the appendixes at the end of this volume. MAINE. SUMMARY OF LEGISLATION. The Maine law provides for the outward opening of doors in all buildings intended for public use, and for "suitable and sufficient fire escapes" on all factories and business buildings employing persons above the first floor, the suitability and sufficiency thereof to be determined by local authorities. The law upon these points reads as follows:1 use Every building intended temporarily or permanently for public * shall have all inner doors intended for egress open outward. The outer doors of all such buildings shall be kept open when the same are used by the public unless they open outward; but fly doors opening both ways may be kept closed. * * * Every building in which any trade, manufacture, or business is carried on, requiring the presence of workmen above the first story, shall at all times be provided with suitable and * * * 1 Rev. Stat., 1903, ch. 28, secs. 37 to 44 (22d An. Rept. Com. of Labor, pp. 524, 525). By an act in force subsequent to the field work of this investigation in Maine, Acts of 1909, ch. 194, approved Apr. 1, 1909 (Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, No. 85, p. 602), the second paragraph of the law as quoted above is amended to read as follows: "Every building in which any trade, manufacture, or business is carried on, requiring the presence of workmen above the first story, * * * shall at all times be provided with proper egresses or other means of escape from fire sufficient for the use of all persons * employed * * therein. These egresses and means of escape shall be kept unobstructed, in good repair, and ready for use, the sufficiency thereof to be determined as provided in the following section." * * * |