CELLAR-FIRE EXTINGUISHMENT

CELLAR-FIRE EXTINGUISHMENT

Specially written for FIRE AND WATER ENGINEERING.

In New York city the fire department requires that basements and cellars shall be fitted with mechanical appliances for extinguishing fire. These appliances are the automatic-sprinkler system and the perforated-pipe system. The perforated pipe is a working out of the idea of distributing water for fire-extinguishing purposes in places where it is not possible to do it by hand or by hose and nozzle. As carried out, a system of pipes which have been perforated to admit of water discharging through the openings, is placed close to the ceilings of rooms or premises to be protected, and, when fire occurs, water is let into the pipes, which are to carry it to the fire-area and discharge it upon the fire. This plan makes of the pipes not only a means of supply, but, also, a discharging device through the whole length of the piping, with the result that the entire area covered by a system of piping receives the discharge of water. As installed in New York city, perforated-pipe systems are intended to be supplied only by fire department engines pumping through a connection at the front of the building. This connection is the regulation two-way inletpipe, or Siamese connection, and attached to it, or nearby, is placed a metal sign of raised letters stating whether the connection supplies the cellar or subcellar. The Siamese connection is attached to a 4-in. feed-pipe, which leads to the lines of perforated piping. The piping is of wrought iron or steel, 1½ ins. in diameter and required to withstand a pressure of 300 lbs. per sq. in. It is suspended not less than 6 ins. below flic ceiling and 12½ ft. on centres. Perforations are 1-16-in. on the quarters, 2 ins. apart longitudinally and staggered—making twenty-four holes to the running foot. The automatic-sprinkler system, as is well known, is a perfected application of the idea of distributing water for fire extinguishing purposes, and its great improvement is in using the piping only as a means of supplying water and not for discharging it. Its construction is too familiar to require description. The chief advantage of sprinklers is that it provides a water blanket—a shower—over the entire area to be protected. To be of real service, they must be thoroughly reliable, not likely to go off at half-cock or on ho apparent provocation, as they occasionally do, nor to refuse to operate, as has been the case on more than one occasion lately. Sprinkler systems are intended to have an automatic source of water supply, usually provided by gravity-tanks. This automatic supply is supplemented by a non-automatic supply, such as a fire-pump, pressure-tanks, public water systems, or fire department engines. In New York city, sprinkler systems installed to comply with the law covering cellar-protection are usually nonautomatic, and are intended to be supplied by the fire department engines pumping through the Siamese connection. Since January, 1904, the installation of these appliances in cellars in New York city has been part of the work of a special bureau of the fire department, the bureau of violations and auxiliary appliai ces. The method followed is to survey a building, and, if the cellar represents a serious fire condition, due to large area, great quantity of combustible contents, or difficulty of access, an order is issued by the fire commissioner and served upon the owner. This order contains a copy of the law governing auxiliary appliances, and, in accordance with its provisions, directs the owner to install perforated pipes or automatic sprinklers. Sixty days are allowed for filling the order, and, in case of noncompliance, the matter is referred to the corporation counsel, who brings suit to recover the penalty of $50 prescribed by law. Up to the present there have been installed more than 700 of these cellar equipments.