SODIUM CAUSE OF STRANGE FIRE.

SODIUM CAUSE OF STRANGE FIRE.

Through the accidental discovery by a New York insurance adjuster that the entire floor in a building in which a fire was recently discovered, was charged with electricity, the cause of the fire was ascertained. The building was used for manufacturing purposes, and the floor was saturated with flavoring extracts, etc., containing a considerable amount of sodium. Even when comparatively dry, the floor was rendered a fairly good conductor, and a test showed that there was a contact between the wooden beams and the electric light wires through the binding screws of a ceiling rosette. When the current was cut off. the charge ceased, and it is supposed that the fire was caused by the sparking between the floor and water pipes, which were not touching, but were in close proximity to it.

Through the accidental discovery by a New York insurance adjuster that the entire floor in a building in which a fire was recently discovered, was charged with electricity, the cause of the fire was ascertained. The building was used for manufacturing purposes, and the floor was saturated with flavoring extracts, etc., containing a considerable amount of sodium. Even when comparatively dry, the floor was rendered a fairly good conductor, and a test showed that there was a contact between the wooden beams and the electric light wires through the binding screws of a ceiling rosette. When the current was cut off. the charge ceased, and it is supposed that the fire was caused by the sparking between the floor and water pipes, which were not touching, but were in close proximity to it.