Chimneys on fire are readily extinguished in several ways, without having recourse to throwing water down them from the top, by which much damage is frequently done to the furniture in the rooms. One of the simplest methods is, to cautiously scatter a handful of flowers of sulphur over the dullest part of the burning coals; the sulphurous vapours, being incapable of supporting combustion, rapidly extinguish the flames. Another method is, to shut the doors and windows, and to stop up the bottom of the chimney with a piece of wet carpet or blanket, throwing a little water or flowers of sulphur, or even common salt, on the fire immediately before doing so. By this means the draught is stopped, and the burning soot extinguished for want of air. In many of the first-class houses recently erected, ‘fire-place shutters’ are provided, which, when partly drawn down, act as powerful bellows or ‘blowers’ and which, when wholly drawn down, so as to touch the hearth-stone, entirely close up the fireplace, and instantly extinguish the combustion of the fuel in the grate, or that of the soot in the chimney. This simple arrangement, the advantages of which were pointed out in an early edition of this work, renders fires in chimneys of little moment, as it is only necessary to draw down the shutter to put them out. If a chimney is stopped at top, instead of at the bottom, the whole of the smoke must, of necessity, be driven into the apartment.
In France, M. Marateuh has successfully applied the principle of Davy’s safety lamp for the prevention of fires in chimneys. He places fire-frames of iron work near the base of the chimney, one above the other, about one foot apart; no flame passes through them, whilst the draught in the chimney is not interfered with, the result being that no fire can happen in the chimney.
Escape from apartments on fire may be best effected by creeping on the hands and knees. In this way the window or door may be reached. It is found that the atmosphere of a room so full of smoke as to produce suffocation to a person standing upright, may generally be safely breathed on nearly a level with the floor. A damp cloth, or handkerchief, tied over the mouth and nostrils, or, still better, over the whole face and head, will enable a person to effect a passage through the densest smoke, and, in many cases, to escape from buildings on fire, when otherwise it would be impracticable. Should descent by the staircase be found impossible, then the window should be immediately sought, and a ladder or fire-escape waited for. In the absence of either, if the danger is imminent, a rope should be made by tying the sheets and blankets of the bed together, one end of which should be firmly secured to a chair or table, or preferably to one of the bed-posts, and with this apparatus descent should be cautiously attempted. Jumping out of the window should be avoided, as persons who have not been brought up as clowns, or harlequins, run just as much danger in performing such an exploit as they do by remaining in the burning building. When it is impossible to escape from a burning building by the stairs or windows, retreat may be sometimes secured by a trap door opening on to the roof, or by a skylight, when, unless it be an isolated house, the roof of one of the adjoining buildings may probably be gained with safety.
Fire-escapes of various kinds have been employed of late years in the metropolis, and have proved of the greatest value in rescuing persons from burning buildings.
It is said that there is no instance on record of a person being burnt to death in a dwelling-house in Edinburgh, where the houses are usually high; yet in London, where fire-engines and fire-escapes are provided in greater numbers, deaths are very frequent from this cause. The reason of this difference is, that in the former city the stairs are all made of stone, by which means a road of escape is secured.
The clothes of females and children, when on fire, may be most readily extinguished by rolling the sufferer in the carpet, hearth-rug, table-cover, a great-coat, cloak, or any other woollen article at hand. If this be expertly done, the flames may be rapidly put out, unless the skirts of the dress be distended by hoops or crinoline, when there is great difficulty in staying the progress of the flames. Should assistance not be at hand, the person whose clothes are on fire should throw herself on the ground, and roll the carpet round her, as before described; or if such a thing is not in the room, she should endeavour to extinguish the flames with her hands, and by rapidly rolling over and over on the floor. In this way the fire will be stifled, or at least the combustion will proceed so slowly that less personal injury will be experienced before assistance arrives. The advantage of assuming the horizontal position is manifest from the fact that nine times out of ten it is the lower parts of the dresses of females that first catch fire.[308]
[308] For the mode of rendering muslin and other inflammable articles of ladies’ apparel fire-proof, see Incombustible fabrics.
The extinction of fires on board ships by means of carbonic-acid gas was some years since suggested to the Admiralty by Mr J. R. Hancorn. He proposes that a simple and economical apparatus should be attached to every decked vessel capable of supplying this gas, which is a well-known non-supporter of combustion, and will extinguish fire at the very instant of coming in contact with the burning matter. Chalk with sulphuric acid diluted with water (vinegar with any other acid will do) yields 44% of the gas; hence, a ton of chalk, and a fourth part of that quantity of sulphuric acid, will be found sufficient to extinguish any fire on board a ship. Mr Hancorn also proposed this as a method of destroying vermin in ships, such as rats and cockroaches, for which purpose it is more easily applied and more effectual than that usually adopted. This plan was rejected by the Admiralty, from a fear that the destructive action of the gas might extend to the crew as well as the fire. But “it surely is possible by mechanical means to expel the gas before again entering the ship’s hold. At any rate, the grand point would be obtained of extinguishing the fire, though the crew might have only the deck to stand on.”
Precautions to be taken against a Fire amongst Farming Stock.—The following are the suggestions of Mr Beaumont, the secretary of the County Fire Office:—
“Forbid your men to use lucifer matches, to smoke or light pipes or cigars, destroy wasp nests, or fire off guns in or near the rickyard, or to throw hot cinders into or against any wooden out-building on the farm, on pain of instant dismissal.