F I R E !
This Bulletin was written by R.W. Bro. Elmer F. Stein, Senior Grand Warden
of the Grand Lodge F.A.A.M. of the District of Columbia. A retired Deputy Chief
of the D.C. Fire Department R.W. Bro. Stein brings 39 years of firefighting
experience on a subject too many of us tend to ignore. We thank Brother Stein
for accepting the challenge to write this Short Talk Bulletin.
Fire! Man's best friend -man's worst enemy.
When controlled, fire warms man, cooks his food, and if out camping, protects
him from carnivorous animals.
However, when out of control, fires have burned millions of dollars worth of
homes, buildings and woodlands.
What causes these disasters? A carelessly discarded lighted match, cigarette
or cigar, in wooded areas, hot smoking materials including pipes laid upon
chairs, sofas or beds in buildings; faulty electrical wiring; spontaneous combustion containers, and, of course,--arson.
What, you may ask, do these things have to do with Freemasonry?
Just this, Brethren--if you have ever sustained the loss of a Lodge Hall,
meeting room, building or valuable property through fire, then you should be
interested.
In Washington, D.C. in 1963, Potomac Lodge No. 5 lost the entire contents of
their building and almost lost the building itself by fire. Likewise in
Aberdeen, Maryland and in Murphy, North Carolina, lodge buildings fell victim to
fires that destroyed the entire property and their valuable contents. More
recently, the Grand Lodge of Ohio, reported two lodges, Charity No. 530 in
Palmyra, lost its building and contents, while Boggs Lodge No. 292 suffered a
damaged floor, rug and some furnishings from a fire that originated under the
Altar. In the case of Charity Lodge No. 530, the cause was thought to have been
defective heating controls, but for the most part, causes of Lodge fires
remain unknown. We could go on and on, citing cases in almost every Grand
Jurisdiction, and listing hundreds of such instances if space allowed. These are
but a few scattered instances of Lodges destroyed by fire. The losses in these
few cases ran between $75,000 to well over $200,000. Some, such as in Ohio, were
adequately covered by insurance, others were not.
There is also the danger of a general conflagration which may destroy
hundreds of buildings, including Lodge Halls, such as in Chicago in 1871 and the
more recent Baltimore fire of 1904. However, in this article, we are more
concerned with the individual lodge and its own building. In a general
conflagration there is little one can do but hope and pray the fire does not
reach the lodge building, but there are many things we all can do in the case of
the individual building, to prevent fires from starting, protecting ourselves
if such occurs and seeing that we are adequately protected financially from
severe loss.
Our first question is, how safe is your Lodge hall? Is it safe enough so that
you will not have a fire in the kitchen? . . . In the Lodge Room by faulty
wiring of the Lesser Lights? . . . or in the Ante Room by a cigar or cigarette
carelessly left on a chair, table, or sofa?
Is the electrical system modern, or ancient? Are your circuits overloaded by
extra lighting during degree work, or strained by the use of numerous appliances
during a lodge dinner? When an electrical circuit blows, does some well-meaning
member put a penny behind the fuse in the fuse box, so that you can continue your
work, or cooking? Does a well-meaning member dump a glass or pitcher of water on
the small hole that is being burned in the fabric of the chair, couch or sofa?
These things are done, Brethren, resulting in over-heating wires that later
in the night set fire to combustible material in the walls or ceiling through
which they run. That chair, couch, or sofa may burst into flames long after
everyone has left the Lodge Hall, because such a fire, like a cancer, eats its
way down into the soft material, and though apparently put out at the time by
the water poured upon it, it may eventually eat its way into the open and find
the necessary air to ignite it. The water has merely blocked the opening with a
hard crust and such items as this should be promptly removed to the outside,
where it will not endanger, or be a threat to any other property. It should be
left there for at least 24 hours.
There is a fallacy that has been perpetrated for years that buildings of
modern materials, such as brick, stone, or a combination of both, are fireproof.
Nothing is farther from the truth. No building is fire-proof. Fire resistant,
yes! But never fire-proof! Even fire resistant buildings are subject to
disastrous fires. It is the contents that burn, not the building, although, of
course, under proper conditions such as a general conflagration, even brick and
concrete will crumble. Every Lodge Hall in the world has its share of furniture,
paintings, rugs, plastics, even oil-base paint on the walls, that are subject to
combustion once a fire has gained a headway.
Now let us look at what may be done in your lodge to ward off such a
catastrophe.
Needed first and foremost is a sprinkler system, something that is on guard
day and night, every day and night of the year. Of course, even a sprinkler
system is subject to human error by someone turning off the valves for
inspection and forgetting to turn them on again. However, this practice is rare
and wherever sprinkler have been installed in buildings, and kept operational,
none have ever sustained more than a minimal loss, and then at the point of fire
only. There may be some water damage, but compared to the probable loss of the
entire structure, such a loss is infinitesimal and this could and should be
covered by a sufficient amount of insurance for such eventuality.
These two items, sprinklers and insurance, are of utmost importance to a
lodge or Grand Lodge, yet whenever brought up in a meeting, the hue and cry of
how much these items cost is deafening and for the most part are laid aside,
with the feeling "It can't happen to us." Such frugality can be and is, more
costly than we realize. For the small amount involved to install sprinklers, the
return is tremendous. First, there will be a definite reduction in the amount of
insurance needed cost-wise, and the feeling of confidence that your Lodge Hall
is safe and secure from being destroyed by fire.
These two items are well worth the original cost of the sprinklers. The
amount paid out for insurance to protect your Lodge Hall from water damage, in
case a sprinkler head should go off and extinguish a fire in its incipient
stage, is also minimal. An outside alarm system installed as part of the
sprinkler system, alerts the passerby that something is wrong in the building
and a prompt response by the Fire Department assures the difference between
slight water damage and a probable complete loss of the entire building by fire.
Only too often have we sat in lodges and even Grand Lodges, and listened to
arguments as to the proper amount of insurance that should be carried. Never
have we heard discussions regarding the protection of a lodge building before
the fire strikes. The argument is always the same-the high cost of the
insurance and the settling for the minimum amount and the lesser cost. Yet, a
little foresight would have prevented the loss of lodge buildings mentioned in
the beginning of this talk. Just a few dollars invested in protection over the
years, would have more than taken care of their loss.
The argument against buying insurance, is sadly, that the insurance never
takes care of the entire loss. This is true, but compared to a complete loss,
which only repays around 80 percent, a sufficient amount of insurance that
repays whatever the water damage is from a sprinkler, certainly knocks that
argument in the head--or it should.
Have you ever given serious thought to what might happen to your lodge, if
your Lodge Hall, with all of your equipment, were destroyed? Most lodges do
not. Would your members stay with the lodge and meet somewhere else, probably
in less suitable quarters? Most would, many would not. They would affiliate with
other lodges and the resultant loss in membership would seriously cut into any
program you offered to raise money to rebuild. Today, money is "tight" and there
are many Masons just not in a position to come up with sufficient donations,
contributions or assessments, to enable you to rebuild your lodge building.
And these Brethren as mentioned above, if pushed too hard for funds, would dimit
or be dropped for non-payment of dues, even though they would probably want to
remain members of the lodge, because the cost of doing so would be prohibitive.
Now let us turn to the preventive side of the coin. One item for the
prevention of fire is adequate incombustible trash containers equipped with
tight lids. It is strange, but smokers have a bad habit of tapping live ashes
from a cigarette or cigar, and sometimes even throwing the lighted cigarette or
cigar, into a waste basket or trash container. In the case of waste baskets,
smoke arising from it will usually alert someone to the fact there is a fire
brewing. In the case of the trash containers, a tight cover would in most cases prevent a fire from
starting, due to the lack of oxygen. A fire needs air and the tight lid assures protection if
the lid is properly placed on the container. In lodges where smoking is
permitted, adequate ash stands, with the flip top permitting the "butt" to fall
into the bottom, should be provided.
Do you have a competent janitor or does some good Brother volunteer his
services in keeping your lodge trash area and kitchen cleaned up? There is a
distinct danger in allowing grease to accumulate under the hood over kitchen
stoves, and in and around the stoves themselves. When sufficient grease accumulates, and sufficient heat is applied such as long preparations for a lodge
dinner, then you have the ingredients for a hot, nasty and dangerous fire, such
as the one in the kitchen of Cornerstone Lodge No. 224 in Takoma Park, Mary
land. Luckily, at the head table was seated an off duty member of the D.C. Fire
Department, who, when notified that the kitchen was on fire, told the Brother to
notify the local Fire Department and then calmly proceeded to the kitchen,
shut the door, and fought the flames under the stove hood and going up the wall
through the exhaust fan, with wet towels. Luckily also, was the fact that he
practically had the fire extinguished when the Fire Department, much to the
amazement of the dinner guests, began to bring their equipment through the
dining room to the kitchen. This was an incident where luck prevailed, having
a fireman present who understood what to do and who took charge of the
situation. What might have happened if he had not been there? The excited
Brother coming from the kitchen and crying "Fire?" Several hundred Brethren
trying to get out of the room through two exits, both of which led up a flight
of stairs to the outside, at the same time. The danger of panic, that normally
kills or injures more people in such circumstances than the actual fire?
This fire, like many others, would never have occurred, had strict attention
been given the periodical cleaning of the stove hood and exhaust fan. A further
protection would have been an adequate hood sprinkler designed for that purpose,
or a carbon dioxide, or foam extinguisher, installed on a wall bracket in the
kitchen. It may be well to mention here that extinguishers can be somewhat
dangerous unless the person using them has been taught to use them properly.
This can be done with little effort on your part by carefully reading, and
thoroughly understanding, the instructions on its use. Not when the fire occurs,
but when the extinguishers are installed, and again and again at frequent
periods. In many cases, lodges have Brethren who are also members of the local
fire department, and who would be only too happy to assist your lodge in any way
possible by instructing the Brethren or the janitor, in the use of
extinguishers, or by inspecting your quarters for defective electrical systems,
that could cause you trouble. Then, heed his advice. It may be the most valuable
single item in your plan against a fire occurring in your building.
Every building of three or more stories, housing a lodge, should certainly be
equipped with fire escapes, one of which should be readily available to the
lodge room itself. An inside fireproof stairwell is the preferable type, but one
or more on the outside, certainly. These also, should be examined regularly for
rust, painted, and kept free of ice and snow during the winter. The pulley
through which the cable runs for the weights, if it is the drop ladder type,
should be examined regularly to make sure the cable runs free to drop the ladder
in case of emergency.
When the building or lodge room is occupied, there are several precautions
that should be taken such as making sure the building is properly marked with
small signs, but big enough to draw instant attention, indicating where exits
are located, and exit lights are burning brightly. If you have an elevator,
signs stating the elevator is not to be used in case of fire, should be
prominently displayed.
There should also be signs plainly stating the emergency phone number of the
local fire department, the location of the nearest alarm box and the nearest
fire station. The janitor, and when occupied, the Tiler of the lodge, or lodges,
should also be thoroughly instructed in the proper method of calling by phone,
or otherwise alerting the fire department if an emergency occurs.
Auxiliary lighting systems, not dependent upon city circuits for electricity,
should be a must in every lodge room, hall and stairway of every building, in
cases of power failure. Emergency auxiliary lights which provide illumination over a 5,000 square foot area are available at modest cost. Their use can
prevent serious injury in cases of an emergency.
Should your building have an alarm system, not connected with the city fire
department, this should be plainly shown by a large card, stating this fact,
that it is for alerting the occupants of the building only, and does not call
the fire department. This oversight many times has caused fires of incipient
origin to become full scale conflagrations, just because someone failed to
notify the fire department, thinking the pulling of the local building alarm had
taken care of this factor.
We often see on television these days, commercials advising us to hold
family meetings to discuss a second "escape plan" whereby we may leave our home
in safety if the regular exits are blocked. Why not this same discussion in your
lodge officers meetings, or every so often in open lodge? You may never need it,
yet some day it may save your, and your fellow members, life.
Masters today are constantly looking around for programs to fill out their
meetings whenever degree work is not on the agenda. You want a program? Here is
a suggestion. The second week in October of every year is known as "Fire
Prevention Week." Why not have a fire prevention program, with the Chief, or
some prominent and knowledgeable member of the local fire department, whether he
be a Brother or not, as the principal speaker?
In closing, my Brethren, you are strongly urged to take a new look at your
lodge building. Check over your insurance to be sure you have adequate insurance
coverage against any type of disaster, especially fire, and if any of the items
as listed in this article are needed, take prompt action to protect yourself.
The old cliche of "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," applies
even more today, with its inflated prices, than when it was first coined many
years ago.
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