Years Numbers Percentages
Serious Slight Total Serious Slight Total
1866 326 1,012 1,338 25 75 100
1867 245 1,152 1,397 18 82 100
1868 235 1,433 1,668 14 86 100
1869 199 1,373 1,572 13 87 100
1870 276 1,670 1,946 14 86 100
1871 207 1,635 1,842 11 89 100
1872 120 1,374 1,494 8 92 100
1873 166 1,382 1,548 11 89 100

The number of fires in the Metropolis in which life was seriously endangered, during the year 1873, was 74, and the number of these in which life was lost was 20.

The number of persons seriously endangered by fire was 140, of whom 105 were saved and 35 lost their lives. Of the 35 lost, 12 were taken out alive, but died afterwards, in hospitals or elsewhere, and 23 were suffocated or burned to death.

The number of calls for chimneys was 3,602, of these 1,167 proved to be false alarms, and 2,435 were for chimneys on fire. In these cases there was no attendance of engines, but only of firemen with hand-pumps.

The quantity of water used for extinguishing fires in the Metropolis during the year was 22,610,379 gallons, in round numbers a little more than 22½ million gallons, or about 101,000 tons. Of this quantity 66,113 tons, or almost exactly two-thirds of the whole, were taken from the river, canals, and docks, and the remainder from the street pipes.

During the year there were 6 cases of a short supply of water, 29 of late attendance of turncocks, and 17 of no attendance, making altogether 52 cases in which the water arrangements were unsatisfactory.

The monthly summary of fires for the same year is as follows:—

MonthSeriously
damaged		 Slightly
damaged		 Total
January 8 102 110
February 11 98 109
March 14 102 116
April 14 120 134
May 17 118 135
June 16 129 145
July 20 139 159
August 18 118 136
September 11 107 118
October 18 102 120
November 6 105 111
December 13 142 155

Many a damaging fire has been stopped by the immediate application of water, and many more would have been if a little common sense and presence of mind were oftener displayed. As a simple precaution in one’s own house, always keep the bedroom water-jugs full, and have an exterminator in a handy place ready for immediate use. For places liable to fire—and what building is not—this latter handy instrument, with its peculiar liquid, is invaluable, its contents being worth several times the same quantity of water. For some purposes it is better than the pumps and portable engines so largely employed, and is always a valuable addition to them; the effects I have witnessed of its operation are so remarkable that its general adoption should be only a matter of time.

Country mansions need special appliances for putting out fire, which are determined by the style of building, its position, whether or not near a good water supply, &c., but all the fixed apparatus should not supersede the little engines just mentioned. A large mansion in Hampshire, burnt not long since, was specially constructed with a view to have a good water supply in case of fire; the tank at the top to charge fixed pipes being kept full by a pump, and everything else possible done to ensure safety. But the fire broke out when the pump was out of order, and no water could be had, and so the house that took years to build was burnt in a few hours. No precautions, however ample or costly, can be reckoned on unless constant supervision is exercised over them, and care taken to keep the various appliances ready for action.