+4
and ambulances responded to the call, but there was no out- break of fire as the result of the explosion.
FALSE ALARMS
5. There were 102 false alarms and thirty seven only were given with good intent. Action was always taken by the Police in attempting to apprehend those culprits who originated malicious false alarms.
CAUSES OF FIRES
6. Careless handling and negligent use of inflammable liquids were still the most common causes of fires. Children playing with matches and the indiscriminate discarding of lighted cigarette ends caused a large number of fires to break out in dwellings. Burning firewood fall- ing from unattended chatties and igniting combustible materials on the floor was another cause of fires. A number of fires were traceable to the negligent use of electrical appliances or to the occurrence of short circuits in unprotected and faulty wiring. A large number of fires occurred as the result of defective or badly made kerosene stoves and by the negligent handling of such stoves when used for domestic purposes.
CASUALTIES
7. Details of casualties recorded as a result of fires and other causes (i.e. landslides, collapsed buildings, etc.) and of the number of persons rescued by the Fire Brigade are as follows:
Died
Injured
Rescued
Rescued but died after
Fires
13
113
18
3
Landslides, Collapsed Build- ings, Drowning and other
causes
25
167
78
2
!
8. No serious injuries occurred to the Fire Brigade personnel.
FIRE RISKS
9. The fire risk in squatter areas is now greatly reduced owing to the construction of Resettlement Estates. Officers of the Fire Brigade continue to visit these areas and give regular lectures and talks to the squatters with the result that they are becoming more conscious of the danger of fires and, very often, outbreaks of fire in squatter areas are now checked in their initial stages, thus keeping the fire damage down to a minimum.
6