In moving the second reading, in the House of Commons the Fire Brigades Bill, the measures dealing with fire precautions, which have been before Parlia ment for more than 40 years, and the fi legislation to place legal obligations to arrange for efficient fire services on authorities, the Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, said the system of fre precautions in Britain hed grown up in a very haphazard way wit how any coordinated public effort.
The Bill, he said, gave effect to many of the recommendations of the Riverdal Committee, which had made a suely of the question. Sir Samuel made the point that the need for fire precautions was especially urgent in view of the danger of incendiary outbreaks due te aerial bombing. Arrangements would be made under the Bil for different brigades to come to the aid of each other in times of emergency.
He mentioned that he had inspec' ed at the Home Office, only last week, a number of new and ingenious appliances for dealing with such outbreaks in times of emergency which it was his intention to issue to local authorities under the provisions of the present Bill, He thought they had gone, in these new appliances, as far as human ingenuity could go to deal with the ible danger of fire following air raids. They were proceeding in this matter upon a big scale and had already started the distribution to local authorities of these auxiliary appliances which would Be' there to be used in emergencies.
Speaking on the Bill, Sir Samuel gave the House a personal ence in connection with the resignation, which took effect last week, of the Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade, Captain Morris, who was retiring from this high post at the end of 30 years of public service.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.