FIRES
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
—Rev. 16:8
1687 Annual Fire Damages
The National Fire Protection Association estimated that over 200,000 cases of arson did 1.25 billion dollars in damage to businesses, homes, schools and churches annually.
1688 Largest Church Fire
The largest fire in a church in modern times was the one which destroyed the Church of La Compania in Santiago, Chile, on the night of December 8, 1863. The service was to be the last of a monthlong celebration; and the walls, ceiling and altar were decorated with thousands of yards of muslin, guaze and tinsel and illuminated by 2,000 long candles and 20,000 oil lamps, the later being strung from pillar to pillar throughout the building.
A moment before high mass was to begin, a bit of the flimsy material swayed too close to the flame of a candle, became ignited and, within three or four minutes, the whole interior of the church was an inferno. As the terror-stricken people frantically struggled in the aisles, the lamps fell and sprinkled them with blazing oil and those who managed to reach the doors and exits found them blocked with tightly-wedged bodies. Of the nearly 3,000 worshippers in this congregation, some 2,500 perished in the fire or died from their injuries.
1689 A 20-Year Fire
The city of Butte, Montana, was built over a mine, which had been on fire for over twenty years. It was not a blazing, but a smoldering fire. They managed to keep most of the air out, so that the fire does not spread rapidly.
How did the fire start? Through the carelessness of a miner named Henshaw. He left his candle burning on a pine beam in the mine as he finished work.
“Goin’ to leave the glim there, Bill?” asked his partner.
“Sure, what’s the difference?” replied Henshaw.
“Oh, nothin’,” objected his companion. “Only there’ll be nobody round for quite a while in case a fire started.”
“Well we’ll take a chance; let’s go,” said Henshaw.
They went out but the fire did not. Some timbers caught and the flames spread. The time of thousands of men and a good-sized fortune have been since spent in trying to put out that fire.
1690 A 200-Year-Old Fire
For well onto 200 years a fire that was started with the use of flint and steel by Tom Dalton in his Blue Ridge Mountain cabin has been kept going to this day. The fire has been moved from one cabin to another, as the old ones have given place to newer ones, and generation after generation of Dalton’s descendants have watched it carefully through the years. Today it is the oldest fire in the United States, perhaps in the world. Even in hot weather the fire requires a cord of wood per month; it has been no easy task, but always the fire has burned on.
—Alji
1691 Fire Since 1919
Here in Alberta we are experiencing very cold weather. But there is one spot in our province where in spite of the frigid weather, the grass is always green. In 1919 an underground fire in the coal mine of Cadomin broke out. The fire has never been extinguished, and to this day it continues to burn. In the coldest days of winter the grass above the fire remains summer green.
—Prairie Overcomer
1692 UN’s Single Fire Truck
United Nations (AP)—The only little red fire truck at the United Nations has gone 1,648 miles in 25 years—mostly in test runs through an underground garage.
It’s never fought a major fire because there’s never been a big blaze in this sprawling 16-acre complex overlooking the East river.
Because of its unique international status, the UN is the only New York building complex to boast its own private fire department.
UN fire officials say their weekly inspections and emphasis on fire prevention have made the United Nations the safest set of buildings in New York.
If it came to fighting a big fire, however, the UN force would have to call on the New York city fire department since its only equipment is the 25-year-old truck and a little red handcart that can be taken on elevators.
Chief fire officer Peter Denig said the 1950 model truck is used to carry equipment—hoses, rubber helmets, boots and masks.
“It’s really like a new piece of equipment,” he said. “We take test runs every day around the garage.”
While the staff of the United Nations is decidedly global, its fire department is strictly local. All 14 members are ex-New York City firemen.
“None of the agencies—city, state or federal—can do inspections here. That’s why this unit was created, to do inspection work and prevent fires,” he said.
1693 Faith On Un-Connected Mains
A United Press release in a midwestern city told of a hospital where officials discovered that the fire-fighting equipment had never been connected. For 35 years it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients in case of emergency. But it had never been attached to the city’s water main. The pipe that led from the building extended 4 feet underground—and there it stopped!
The medical staff and the patients had felt complete confidence in the system. They thought that if a blaze broke out, they could depend on a nearby hose to extinguish it. But theirs was a false security. Although the costly equipment with its polished valves and well-placed outlets was adequate for the building, it lacked the most important thing—WATER!
1694 “Eternal” Flames
In Greenfield Village, near Detroit, Michigan, the late Henry Ford kept a perpetual fire burning in the fireplace of his Lincoln building. Attendants keep logs on it and the fire has not gone out for years. In many other places in the world one can see the so-called “eternal flame.” Chief among these is the “eternal flame” underneath the “Arc de Triomphe” in Paris.
1695 Firemen’s Efficiency Costly
Vancouver, B. C. (AP)—William Rathie, chairman of the city’s Port Development Committee, watched with disappointment as firemen extinguished a three-alarm blaze at an abandoned waterfront pier.
“I kept telling them to let it burn,” Rathie said Tuesday, noting that the pier had been scheduled for demolition by the National Harbors Board.
The firemen’s quick action will cost the harbors board $45,000—the price of demolition.
1696 Others’ Keepers Of Firemen
In New York City, Ladder Company 25 once was called out to answer a fire alarm. While they were gone, their firehouse caught fire. Neighbors saw smoke pouring out the rear windows and phoned an alarm. Firemen from three nearby firehouses put the blaze out before Ladder Company 25 returned!
1697 Old Truck For False Calls
A Wisconsin town council was discussing how to dispose of an old fire truck, now that they bought a new one. One counselor finally stood: “Use the old, inadequate truck to answer false alarms.”
1698 How To Keep Alive Childhood Dreams
A report from Canada says thirteen business and professional men in Toronto banded together to man a red mobile canteen which follows multiple-alarm fires. Dressed in their own rubber fire-fighting uniforms, they are armed with police passes. They are described as “middle-aged businessmen who never outgrew their childhood dreams.”
Firemen appreciate their service. In fact, the firefighters union bought the canteen truck for them, and also buys all supplies for the truck. When a fire alarm is received, a “must” call goes to them.
1699 Lifetime Collection In Ashes
From the Philippines comes a news photo showing Dr. E. Arsenio Manuel crouched over the ashes of a lifetime collection of books and manuscripts from a fire in his home. Dr. Manuel was scheduled to retire after 43 years of service to the University of the Philippines.
1700 Wholesale Fried Chicken
In Montgomery, Alabama, 16,500 chickens were roasted when flames engulfed a barn. Firemen said the building and the chickens were a complete loss. The blaze occurred about 4 A. M. and was caused by faulty wiring in the wooden chicken barn.
1701 Making Matches
It has been a long stride forward from producing light and heat by means of flint to producing it by matches. What would civilization do without matches? Few realize the immense labor, capital, and material used to produce this tiny article of commerce. As a matter of fact, thousands of men are employed, millions of dollars invested, and vast forests cut down to meet the demand in America of 700,000,000, ,000 matches a year. One plant alone on the Pacific coast covers 240 acres and uses 200,000 feet of sugar pine and yellow pine logs in a day. The odds and ends will not do. A constant search is in progress for large forests of perfect trees to meet the future need.
—Selected
1702 Heavy Timber Buildings More Fireproofed
Heavy timber buildings are safer from fire damage than structures built with so-called “non-combustible” materials, reports the National Lumber Manufacturers Association. Temperatures inside a burning building can reach 1700 degrees often within ten minutes. But wood beams char to a depth of only one-and-one-half inches after a full hour of that temperature, the organization says, and charring is usually not sufficient to cause collapse.
See also: Heat ; Signs and Wonders ; Sun ; Ezk. 38:22; 39:6; Rev. 8:7, 8; 9:18; 13:13.