Page:Fires and Fire-fighters (1913).djvu/163

Rh side with tar or other rust-resisting material, shall rest upon a solid foundation and shall be embedded in and surrounded by at least twelve inches of Portland cement concrete, composed of two parts of cement, three parts of sand and five parts of stone. (C) Each storage tank installed in a garage shall be so set that the top, or highest point thereof, shall be at least two feet below the level of the lowest cellar floor of any building within a radius of ten feet from the tank." Garages constructed along these lines are unlikely readily to catch alight, and the financial outlay rendered necessary by such structural additions is as nothing to the increased security obtained.

The following rules should also be rigidly observed and are applicable to garages attached to private houses, which, be it said, are often carelessly looked after since both master and man are only too prone to be lax, especially when outside the sphere of city regulations. Incidentally, however, this is precisely one of the occasions demanding the maximum of precaution. "All oils spilled on the floors of a garage should be removed at once by sponging or swabbing, and should be poured into the drain leading to the oil separator which is installed so as to be connected to the house drain, and so arranged as to separate all oils from the drainage of the garage.

"No system of artificial lighting other than incandescent electric lights should be installed in any garage unless of a type for which a certificate of approval has been issued by the fire commissioner." Of course, in the country, there may be some difficulty over this provision, but common sense applied to the problem will certainly limit the fire risk. It also goes without say that no stoves or any appliance likely to produce an exposed spark should be installed in a garage, unless placed in a room separated from it by fireproof floors and walls. As regards the carelessness of the individual, the following excerpt taken from a speech made at the annual meeting of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, needs no comment.

"I confess it is astonishing to find that the fire waste