Protection from Fire and Thieves / Including the construction of locks, safes, strong-rooms, and fireproof buildings; burglary, and the means of preventing it; fire, its detection, prevention, and extinction; etc.

by George Hayter Chubb

But whatever the cost of these highly advantageous systems of construction, there are certain buildings which demand the application of the very best methods of erection in order to secure their safety from the devouring flames. In public museums and art galleries we have buildings which cannot have too much attention and money paid to make them safe; and their safety from or liability to fire is a topic of much interest. It is but seldom that one hears of a serious fire in any of these places; the truth is, though many of them would, if once a-light, make a wonderful blaze, they are generally so well watched that fire can obtain no hold without being discovered. The real danger is more from surrounding buildings being on fire than from within.

The Bodleian Library, at Oxford, about which there has been some stir lately, is a noticeable example. The building is itself highly combustible; it is filled with combustible though invaluable contents, for which there is no fireproof receptacle; and around it are other structures at least as likely to burn, and if burnt to cause the destruction of the library. Captain Galton has reported on this state of affairs, and it is now probable that one of the remedies suggested may be adopted.

A return has been made to Parliament of the state of some of the public buildings, and from the digest which has appeared in the ‘Architect’ I take the following:—

‘The return from the British Museum acknowledges that generally, except in the basement, the materials of the building are only partially incombustible. The basement is constructed chiefly of brick, with piers and groined arches, except in a few cases, where cast-iron columns are used, the floors being either stone, slate, or cement. The principal staircases are of stone, and the smaller ones of iron. The ceilings throughout are lath-and-plaster, with fir ceiling-joists. The roofs are of wood and iron, covered with copper, the principals being in most cases cast-iron.

‘The reading-room has a cement floor, with brick arches beneath. The main ribs of the dome are iron, with brickwork between them, this being covered externally with copper, and internally with papier mâché fastened to wood ribs. The lantern is of wood and iron. The new libraries on basement and ground floors are built externally of brick, internally chiefly of iron.

‘Some of the floors of the National Gallery are arched with brick, on iron girders; the floors of a portion of the rooms of the ground storey in each wing, the rooms under the dome, and others adjoining them, are of ordinary timber construction, with iron girders. The floors of the picture galleries and of most of the rooms are boarded; those of the other rooms, the entrance-halls, lobbies, staircases, and principal parts of the passages, are of stone. All portions of the floors on each storey traversed by hot-water pipes are of stone, on brick chambers, with metal gratings. The ceilings of the rooms generally are of lath-and-plaster, with fir ceiling-joists; internally the rooms are plastered or cemented, except those of the picture galleries, which are lined with wood, for dryness and facility of hanging. The roofs and lantern-lights are constructed of iron and wood, covered with lead. The lanterns of the westernmost galleries have iron shutters. Those on the top and the sides opposed to adjacent buildings are closed every night.

‘At South Kensington the floors, except the official residences, are fireproof, on Fox and Barrett’s principle. In the Museum they are covered with tiles or marble mosaic, and in the schools, offices, &c. in some places with wood, and others with asphalte. The floors of Bethnal Green Museum are of wood, and not fireproof, and the same may be said of the Kew Museum. The whole of the ground floors, and in some cases the one-pair floors, of the Royal Hospital, Greenwich, are constructed on brick groined arches, and with the exception of the wood floor covering are fireproof. The remainder of the floors are of framed timbers and joists, with boarded floors, which would readily ignite. In the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, the whole of which is not yet completed, the greater portion of the main floor is formed of stone arches, with encaustic tiles, but the two galleries surrounding the principal halls are of wood, supported by iron columns or girders. In the east wing there is a lecture-room, with rooms, one for the exhibition of specimens, of which the floors are entirely of wood. This building would appear to be in danger if a fire occurred in any of the neighbouring premises. The National Gallery of Scotland is constructed of stonework of the best kind, and is therefore little liable to conflagration. Of museums in Dublin, the College of Science alone appears to have floors which may be considered to be incombustible. The wood in the Dublin Society’s house is returned as being “very old and dry.” In the Royal Irish Academy, which contains a collection of antiquities, there is but one room which is fireproof. The Hibernian Academy has also wooden floors.

‘The means for prevention of fires differ much in the different buildings. The British Museum has connection with the mains, with sufficient hydrants and hose-pipes and buckets, and the tanks contain 26,000 gallons of water. There are sixteen fire-engines, six of them being kept on the roof, and two firemen are constantly on duty; besides, the police employed are drilled in the use of the engines and appliances. The National Gallery has also hydrants and hose; the tanks contain 3,900 gallons. There is only one hand-pump. There are no watchmen, and no resident officer is charged with the duty of supervision. The care of the building is entrusted to the police. In South Kensington the arrangements to secure safety are very complete, and far superior to those in any other public building. Four-inch mains are used throughout the building and grounds, but the supply is constant only as long as the company’s mains are in action. A tank in the grounds, which holds 25,000 gallons, is, however, always available, should the supply from the mains be deficient. The return says that a tower is to form part of the South Kensington building when the design is complete, and in it there are to be tanks at sufficient elevation to command the buildings by means of hydrants. Pending the erection of the tower, it is recommended that tanks to contain 50,000 gallons should be placed in the highest possible positions. There is always a fire-brigade of Royal Engineers resident on the premises, who daily examine all the appliances; and one of the assistant-directors, who is also an officer of Engineers, has the superintendence. A story is told in the Parliamentary paper which is worth giving, not only as showing that there are two ways of extinguishing a fire, but as proving the superiority of a special to a general system:—‘In March 1857, at about 4.30 A.M., a fire broke out in one of the temporary wooden buildings, at that time used as art schools. The alarm was given by the police, and a man was despatched in a cab to the nearest Fire Brigade station. But before the arrival of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade engine the detachment of Royal Engineers had completely got the fire under, and had saved the contents, principally pictures, of the building. Mr. Braidwood, then Chief of the Metropolitan Brigade, on his inspection complimented the Royal Engineers on the way in which the fire had been put out. He said it was the “prettiest stop” he had ever seen, but unscientific, and that with his men he would not have attempted to extinguish the fire, but would have directed their efforts to pulling down adjoining buildings, in order to prevent the fire spreading. The fire originated from some woodwork touching a stone, in the immediate neighbourhood of a hot air heating apparatus which had been put in by the Office of Works before the buildings were handed over to the charge of the department. Since this time the use of hot air apparatus has been discontinued, and the permanent buildings are all heated by hot water. The Geological Museum has a tank and other appliances, and the watching is wholly in the charge of the police.

‘The Edinburgh Museum has an insufficient provision in water supply. In the forenoon there is no water available from the hydrants on the upper floor of the building, which is forty feet below the ridge of the roof, and there are no fire-engines. The Scottish National Gallery has six cisterns, each containing 100 gallons, but in the opinion of a superintendent of the Fire Brigade the building is adequately protected against fire. The Dublin buildings, owing to the high pressure of water supply, are supposed to be sufficiently secure without tanks.

‘In nearly all of the buildings there has been hitherto no fire, and in those where there was the damage was not very great. A fire in one of the out-buildings of the British Museum, in 1865, caused a loss of a little beyond 500l. The fire at South Kensington has been already described. In all the buildings there is more or less constant supervision, and with this, risk is reduced to a minimum. Still the reports show how much need there is of the constant service being generally extended over the metropolis. At South Kensington, in the daytime, the pressure is usually not sufficient to command the lower roofs of the Museum buildings, and sometimes is as low as 20 feet, although at night (when there is often most danger) it rises to 160 feet.’