Past Achievements Spur Future Efforts

Past Achievements Spur Future Efforts

Fire losses in the United States for 1959 in all probability will show a decrease. As this is written, it is impossible to accurately predict what the final total will be, but barring unusual last minute experience, it appears that for the first time in 10 years the ever-increasing upward trend has been arrested. Percentage-wise the drop may appear insignificant, yet it is a remarkable achievement when contrasted against the reported inflationary trend of our economy and the continued building boom in this country. It is impossible to pinpoint all reasons for this reversal of past form, but the figures indicate that employment of better fire protection facilities and increased fire prevention efforts of the fire service are beginning to show tangible results beyond early expectations.

The effectiveness of the efforts to lessen fire losses has been noted before by many agencies. One example is the remarks of J. H. Finnegan, manager, Actuarial Bureau, National Board of Fire Underwriters, in an address before the 1959 annual meeting of the National Fire Protection Association at Atlantic City. Dr. Finnegan traced the fire losses of this country from 1895 through 1958 and compared the trend in terms of our increasing prosperity as a nation. One of his conclusions was that proportionally our fire losses have actually been declining when measured against the national wealth. To him, this indicated that fire protection and prevention activities have been and still are effective.