FIRE LADDERS

FIRE LADDERS

The main reason for the destruction of Field & Letter’s dry goods establishment, in Chicago, recently, lay in the fact that the fire originated in tho attic above tho fifth story, and was perfectly inaccessible to the Firemen. No means were provided by which the roof could be reached from tho outside, and the flames had taken posssession of every avenue of approach inside. As a consequence, the Firemen and citizens had to stand by uml see the upper portion of the building burn without being able to cheek the flames. This fact has led the Council to pass an ordinance requiring metallic ladders and fire escapes to be provided for such lofty buildings, thus furnishing a ready means by which the roof may he readied. The matter of enforcing the ordinance is left to a Commission, which consists of the Mayor, Fire Marshal, Superintendent of Buildings, Chairman of the Council Committee of Fire and Water, and Chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings.

That the ordinance is faulty in some particulars is shown by the Chicago papers, and also by the fact that the Commission named is given a great deal of discretion in carrying it out. Thus it requires that all buildings of four stories and more (except those used as private residences) shall he provided with metallic ladders “extending from the sidewalk to the upper stories of such building.” This would indicate the intention to construct tho ladders on the front of the building. But such a plan would he utterly impracticable in some cases, and it is undesirable in all cases where the rear of the building is on a court or alley which can he reached from the street. Not only would the proposed ladders disfigure the front of a handsome building, but almost all buildings to which the ladders should be attached have large, heavy projecting cornices on the sides with street fronts, and the ladders could not bo run over theso in such a way that tho Firemen could use them to gain the roof without great danger. There is also a positive advantage in locating the ladders in the alleys; the alleys are usually from fifteen to twenty feet wide, with high buildings on each side. If one building is burning in such a way that the ladder attached to it cannot be used, the ladder of the building directly opposite can be used to reach the roof or one of the higher stories. This may of itself give the Firemen a commanding position from which to fight the flames. Otherwise, they can draw up some of their own ladders, and throw them across tli© alley from one building to the other, either from the roof or window of corresponding stories, and thus secure a practical bridge over which they can gain access to any part of the burning building they may desire to reach. There are few buildings to which these iron ladders ought to he attached that do not back on alleys or courts.