Show Personal Liability For Fire Stressed Ii Personal liability for fire as the National Board of Fire Underwriters Underwriters Under Under- writers ers points out is a principle long established in Europe In France for example if it is proven en that a persons person's carelessness was responsible for a fire he is held financially responsible for all the damage done to the property proper proper- ty of or others That principle has never been generally accepted in America b bu but t there are one or two scattered in in- in where it has been applied In 1926 in Cincinnati a citizen was ordered to comply with certain certain tain preventative fire-preventative ordinances H He failed to do so and fire broke out on his property It was put putout putout I out by the fire department which I sent him a bill for to cover I Ithe the expense involved The case went finally to court and the city was awarded damages of A similar instance occurred in New York A A. company was ordered to install fire sprinklers did not do doso doso doso so and sustained a major mayor fire Under a year old law the city sued and re received 1500 for extinguishing extinguishing extinguishing ex ex- it Law or no law fire is a matter of personal responsibility Every individual owes his community a I definite duty so far as ng hazards from his property is concerned In most cases it costs little in either time or money to tomake tomake tomake make hazardous property safe Fire Prevention Week was recently recently recently re re- re- re observed observed and and all of us should resolve to retain and use the information that was disseminated disseminated disseminated then Fire is the great destroyer most destroyer most of its destruction is unnecessary Every citizen must become his own fire marshall mar mar- shall cooperating with the constituted constituted constituted con con- authorities to see that his neighborhood and town are made safe |