To guard against the dangers arising from the ignition of wearing apparel many methods have been suggested for rendering fabrics flame proof, all of them consisting in soaking the dress in a weak solution of a non-inflammable substance, such as chloride of zinc, alum, tungstate of sodium, sulphate of ammonia, &c. Of these alum has the advantage of greatly improving the appearance of the fabrics, especially if they be coloured.
Fire-guards, particularly where there are children, ought to be adopted much more generally than they appear to be.
Prev. This consists of the exercise of those ordinary precautions which the good sense of every careful and trustworthy man, be he taskmaster or servant, cannot fail to suggest. It would be useless to enumerate them.
Immediately on the fire being discovered, secure an alarm being given to the nearest of the fire escape stations, not delaying an instant; do not wait “to see if it is wanted.” Life is more valuable than property, and events have often proved how fatal even a moment’s hesitation is in sending for the fire-escape.[307]
[307] ‘Handbook for Emergencies,’ Cassell.
The late Mr Braidwood’s advice was, “that if the fire appears at all serious, and there are fire-engines within a reasonable distance, that it is best to wait until they arrive; many buildings have been destroyed from opening doors, and trying to extinguish fires with insufficient means. If no engines are within reach it is advisable to keep a hand-pump. If that is not to be had, the next best thing is to collect as many buckets outside the room on fire as can be obtained, keeping the door shut; then to creep into the room on hands and knees (if the heat and smoke are considerable), and throw the water as nearly in the direction of the fire as possible, keeping the door shut while more water is being collected.
“The police of the metropolis understand shutting up fires so well, that they have in many instances kept fires two or three miles distant from the engine-stations, shut up till the fireman arrived in time to extinguish them.”
Fires might often be readily extinguished when first discovered by the timely application of a few buckets of water. When an apartment is found to be on fire, the door, chimney, and windows should be immediately closed, if possible, and only opened for the purpose of projecting water on the flames. By this means the supply of air will be cut off, and rapid combustion prevented. The same applies to the lower doors and windows of a house (especially the shop window), which are often injudiciously kept open or removed, under the pretence of rendering assistance. The neglect of this precaution has often caused a mere smouldering fire, that might have been easily put out, to burst into an unextinguishable mass of flame.
It has been proposed at various times to make certain additions to the water used for the purpose of extinguishing fires, in order to render its action more certain and effective.
It is found that sal ammoniac (5 oz. to the gall.) exerts this property in a remarkable degree. Several other articles, as common salt, pearlash, and kitchen soda, act in the same way, though less effectively. A few buckets of such water will speedily arrest the progress of a fire before it has much extended itself. Such a plan is easily applied, by adding the saline matter to the buckets of water, which are either used by hand, or to feed the engine for the first few minutes of its working. When, however, a fire has made much progress, the action of such substances becomes scarcely perceptible.