Only a small proportion of these 38,000 fires were very serious ones; yet the majority of them might have been so but for the precautions and appliances at hand to prevent the mischief spreading. The best way of combating this foe for the future is to ensure better house-building, and to hold an enquiry into the cause of each fire, as already suggested. But we have to deal with cities and towns already built, and with the greater part of their buildings ready to form bonfires when any carelessness lets even the smallest portion ignite. In another chapter I have spoken of fireproof construction, and have given instances of the danger many of our public buildings are in. But dwelling-houses are scarcely ever built to be fireproof, space and cheapness being the desiderata, and it will ever be so. The construction of the older ones causes them to burn out, when once fairly alight, in an incredibly short space of time, affording but little opportunity for the escape of inmates, even should they be able to withstand the choking smoke.
The following is a complete list of causes of fires in London for the year 1873:—
| Airing linen | 17 |
| Bleaching baskets | 3 |
| Boiler, overheating of | 8 |
| Boiling acids | 1 |
| Boiling over, chemicals, oil, pitch, spirits, tar, &c. | 23 |
| Burning out paint-pot | 1 |
| Candle | 187 |
| Chemicals, bottle of, breaking | 1 |
| Chemicals, explosion of | 1 |
| Children playing with cartridges | 1 |
| Children playing with fire | 21 |
| Children playing with lucifers | 29 |
| Clothes coming in contact with fire | 7 |
| Copper, overheat of | 1 |
| Copper, leaking | 1 |
| Cylinder, overheat of | 1 |
| Damper, defect in | 1 |
| Detonating caps | 1 |
| Doubtful | 14 |
| Drawing off paraffin oil | 1 |
| Drying apparatus, overheat of | 1 |
| Drying-room, overheat of | 1 |
| Fire, goods placed too near | 1 |
| Fireplace blocked up | 2 |
| Fireplace, defect in | 1 |
| Fireplace adjoining, defect in | 1 |
| Fireworks, explosion of | 1 |
| Fireworks, letting off | 1 |
| Flue, blocked up | 10 |
| Flue, defect in | 58 |
| Flue, foul | 24 |
| Flue, overheat of | 10 |
| Flue, timber in | 1 |
| Flue, adjoining, defect in | 15 |
| Flue, adjoining, foul | 5 |
| Flue, adjoining, overheat of | 4 |
| Flue, copper, defect in | 4 |
| Flue, copper, overheat of | 4 |
| Flue, furnace, defect in | 1 |
| Flue, furnace, overheat of | 3 |
| Friction of machinery | 6 |
| Friction of vesuvians | 1 |
| Fumigating bags | 4 |
| Furnace, overheat of | 5 |
| Furnace, hothouse, overheat of | 1 |
| Furnace, adjoining, overheat of | 1 |
| Gas, escape of | 45 |
| Gasfitters at work | 6 |
| Gasfitters at work in street | 1 |
| Gas, lighting | 6 |
| Gas, seeking for an escape of, in street | 17 |
| Gas, swinging bracket | 21 |
| Gaslight | 2 |
| Gaslight, curtains or window-blinds coming in contact with | 8 |
| Gaslight, goods coming in contact with | 12 |
| Gaslight, goods placed too near | 4 |
| Gaslight, overheat of | 7 |
| Gaslight, holly placed too near | 1 |
| Gaslight, paper blown on | 1 |
| Gaslight, sunblind placed too near | 1 |
| Glue, heating | 1 |
| Hearth, defect in | 4 |
| Hearth, fire on | 4 |
| Hearth, adjoining, fire on | 2 |
| Hot ashes | 37 |
| Hot plate, overheat of | 1 |
| Hot iron | 2 |
| Hot rivets | 3 |
| Hot soldering-iron | 1 |
| Incendiarism | 11 |
| Intoxication | 6 |
| Kiln, overheat of | 2 |
| Lamp, bag falling on | 1 |
| Lamp, lighting | 1 |
| Lamp, lighted, falling on benzoline | 1 |
| Lamp, gas, upset | 1 |
| Lamp, curtains or window-blinds coming in contact with | 2 |
| Lamp, oil, upset | 1 |
| Lamp, paraffin, explosion of | 3 |
| Lamp, spirit, upset | 41 |
| Light thrown down | 115 |
| Light thrown down area | 9 |
| Light thrown from street | 19 |
| Lighted taper | 2 |
| Lime-slaking | 7 |
| Lime slaked by rain | 5 |
| Lucifers | 43 |
| Oven, overheat of | 5 |
| Paraffin oil coming in contact with lighted candle | 1 |
| Phosphorus | 3 |
| Pipe-stove, overheat of | 6 |
| Pipe, steam, overheat of | 2 |
| Plumbers at work | 3 |
| Rags, overheat of | 1 |
| Roasting chicory | 1 |
| Smoke-hole, overheat of | 1 |
| Smoking tobacco | 36 |
| Spark from fire | 172 |
| Spark from copper fire | 1 |
| Spark from copper flue | 1 |
| Spark from copper flue adjoining | 2 |
| Spark from furnace | 5 |
| Spark from locomotive | 9 |
| Spark from oil-lamp | 3 |
| Spark from oven fire | 1 |
| Spark from smoke-hole | 1 |
| Spontaneous ignition | 15 |
| Spontaneous ignition of red fire | 1 |
| Still, overheat of | 1 |
| Still, leaking | 1 |
| Stove, overheat of | 11 |
| Stove, adjoining, overheat of | 3 |
| Stove, improperly set | 4 |
| Stove, drying, overheat of | 11 |
| Stove, drying, adjoining, overheat of | 1 |
| Stove, drying, rags falling on | 1 |
| Stove, ironing, rags falling on | 1 |
| Stove, ironing, overheat of | 1 |
| Stove, ironing, linen falling on | 1 |
| Stove, gas, overheat of | 10 |
| Sun, heat from | 2 |
| Tar-pot upset | 1 |
| Turpentine upset | 1 |
| Vapour of spirits coming in contact with flame | 8 |
| Varnish coming in contact with flame | 1 |
| Unknown | 276 |
| Total | 1548 |
The proportion of unknown causes so frequently reported is far too large. An intelligent consideration of the circumstances which may give rise to chemical action would often solve the difficulty. There were lately reported some curious fires which occurred at Manchester, caused by the slow combustion of green wax-tapers which had been blown out but imperfectly extinguished. The smouldering wick gradually consumed away, setting the wax and surrounding materials on fire.
It has long been known that green wax office-tapers would thus gradually smoulder away if they are not carefully extinguished after they have been used. This danger arising from tapers may be guarded against by using any other colour than green.
Many things popularly deemed uninflammable are far from being so; for instance, tin is not a common combustible, but it will burn with considerable energy under peculiar conditions. This may be proved by placing a small portion of nitrate of copper upon a sheet of tin-foil. Both materials are inactive as long as they are dry, but upon moistening them with water the chemical action first heats the tin, which eventually will break out into flame. Lead is not usually regarded as liable to do more than melt, but under favourable circumstances it will burn with vehement heat. On the other hand, a room filled with coal-gas is by many persons supposed to be dangerously explosive, whereas it cannot even take fire excepting at the openings of the room, where, by coming into contact with the air, the necessary combination of atoms occurs so as to let the gas ignite and burn.
As most fires break out at night, the necessity is shown of examining a building at the latest possible hour. In warehouses, factories, and such like, a watchman should be employed.
The tell-tale clocks frequently used to prove whether the watchman has done his duty are of doubtful service, for it is better to rely upon an honest man’s carefulness than to compel him to go certain fixed rounds which may prevent his being able to give an alarm at the right moment.
One watchman is generally best even in very large buildings. ‘An instance[4] is on record in which a building standing in its own grounds was watched by four men, two of whom patrolled within and two without the walls, and yet the alarm of fire which happened in this building was first given by a street-constable who happened to see the light while going round his beat. If there had been but one watchman, or two, it might have been possible to impute some blame to them, but as there were four it was much more reasonable to assume that they were engaged in pegging clocks or carrying out some other so-called self-registering scheme of recording their duties instead of really transacting them.’
With regard to watching private houses this must be left chiefly to the police, but it should be seconded by an examination made by the master himself every night the last thing before retiring to rest. Many fires commence from a spark or ash falling out of the fire when it is not properly protected by a guard or fender. The habit of raking out a fire at night is a popular but mischievous one. If left to burn in the grate there is far less chance of danger than in raking out the hot ashes, which are likely to split the hearth-stone or fall on the floor or carpet. Gas-burners are dangerous when placed near the ceiling. A remarkable instance of this took place where a gas-jet set fire to a ceiling 28½ inches from it.