OCR Text |
Show Safety In Public Places A fire which occurs in a "Place of Assembly" which simply means space used for recreational, religious, educational, educa-tional, political and other such purposes where considerable consider-able number of people congregate can be one of the most ghastly of disasters. Thousands of lives have been lost in schools, nightclubs, theatres and similar buildings when fire struck and spread with unbelievable swiftness. For this reason, the fact that the National Board of Fire Underwriters has revised its ordinance known as "An Ordinance Providing for Safety in Places of Assembly" is important. The ordinance deals with such vital factors as keeping aisles clear, proper lighting for exits, keeping adequate ade-quate fire-fighting equipment available, providing for periodic inspections by fire departments, and so on. The proposals are all based on long experience, and together they represent a clear codification of safety "musts". However, this, or any other ordinance, can be made effective only by action of municipal or state authorities the fire prevention experts are powerless without official interest and cooperation. And the city and state officials concerned can perform no greater public service than doing everything possible to prevent fire and to hold damage and loss to the minimum when fire does strike. The proposed pro-posed ordinance to govern places of assembly is an example of how that can be done. |