Fire_Brigade_1958-1959 — Page 19

HYDRANTS AND WATER SUPPLY

24. Fire hydrants, both pedestal and ground, were inspected quar- terly and all defects reported to the Water Authority for repair.

25. At the end of the year, new installations and replacements had brought the total number of pedestal and ground hydrants to 863 and 1,226 respectively.

26. Salt water hydants proved to be extremely valuable in checking fires during water restriction hours. These hydrants which are inspected quarterly were maintained in good working order.

27. Throughout the year the Water Authority provided turncocks at Fire Stations to enable water valves to be operated during the hours of water restrictions.

28. Static water tanks are inspected regularly and maintained in good condition.

29. In view of the continued restriction of water supply, this depart- ment advises owners and occupiers of buildings which have private fire service installations fed by street mains to provide roof water- storage tanks. As the result of this encouragement and with the co- operation of the Public Works Department, many such tanks were erected. These tanks are supplied by well water and usually have a capacity of 2,000 gallons which ensures that water is always available for dealing with fires in the initial stage.

INSPECTION BRANCH AND FIRE PREVENTION

30. The Inspection Branch made 8,641 inspections of premises of various descriptions during the year under review. Apart from routine inspections under various ordinances, these inspections include good- will visits and the investigation of complaints of illegal storage of dangerous goods, or obstruction to staircases or fire escapes.

31. Prosecutions of offenders for infringements of the Dangerous Goods Ordinance, the Miscellaneous Licences (Timber Stores) Ordin- ance, and the Celluloid and Cinematograph Film Ordinance were undertaken on 155 occasions and convictions were registered in all cases with fines totalling $23,815.00. In many cases dangerous goods illegally stored were confiscated in addition to fines being imposed. A detailed summary of inspections is shown in Appendix II.

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