Know Your Buildings
The inspection of the business district of a city or town is one of the most important branches of the fire department’s duties. On the thoroughness with which this work is performed depends the elimination of many unnecessary hazards and the making of the community safer from a fire prevention standpoint. If the work is neglected or is performed in a slipshod or careless manner, many hazards which should be corrected, and which the owners or lessees of the buildings or their employees allow to exist, will remain a menace to the safety of the structure, of the neighborhood and even of the city itself.
Often these hazards are the result of ignorance on the part of those responsible for them. In these cases, if the dangers are pointed out, the occupants of the building and their employees, in nine cases out of ten, will be glad to see that: the danger complained of is removed for their own safety’s sake. As a rule hazards are the result either of lack of knowledge of what constitutes a fire breeding condition, or of thoughtlessness. In either case, if the matter is brought to the attention of the proper individual, he will, generally, be glad to see that it is corrected.
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