False Alarms (Good Intent) 4 ise Alarm (Malicious) 1 Special Calls 8
The damage at fires which the Brigade attended within the Setti ment and Special Rated Area was estimated at Within the Settlement $634,695 In the Special Rated "area 146,159
Total:
'$780,704
The following noteworthy fires occurred during the month December 4, 140 pan. Straw Mh cle,, between' Xu Yuen and Gi Western Roads—This outbreak is ported to have started in a Money Exchange and General Store situated almost in the centre of a very large colony of approximately 800 straw huts and other similarly constructed shacks, including a number of tem porary' industrial premises, and the outbreak gained such rapid headway that the whole colony was very quickly involved.
Bubbling Well Division responded and attacked the outbreak from the north side, laying on from hydrants fon. Vu Yuien Road along alleyways and having to cut bamboo fences and Scale high walls in order to get effective Jets into operation. A call for assistance was Immediately put in, to which two sections from Sinza and Jarge pumps from Ichang Road and Central Stations responded, In the meantime two machines from the Tessfleld Village Native Brigade arrived and got to work from a creek on the west, while two machines from the French Fire Brigade attacked the outbreak on the south-west, The heat on the north wus, texrifie and windows of adjacent buildings, to height of at least forty fect, were feraeked, while on the China & South Sea Bank's stof quarters a sun-blind and the Insulation on exterior drain ibos were also involved, and avery effort was made to hold the outbreak from doing further damage in that direction.
The outbreak, fonned by a stiff breeze, rapidly. ead to the south and there machines from Sinza and Central Divisions fought and held it, Dut not until a foreign house at No. 52 Great Western Road ud. become Involved; however, prom work Fe= sulted in damage'to this property bel confined to the con the root of the main bull Ing and the roof and upper floor of garage.
'A hat factory adjacent to these premises was gutted; this fac~ to and of light brick construct fumes from it also affect the wooden window frames, elc., of a row Of old Chinese houses to the south. Window. frames of a factory under construction were also affected, this being a very Brave fire risk a3 the almost completed building contained Targe quantities of timber and was surrounded with scaffolding.
five was particularly fierce At the southwest extremity, the menacing, for a factory used for the preparation of all for soap-making Became involved and I quantities of all caught fire, The tory, which, comprised a large mud hut with thatched roof, wag entirely gutted, but after some difieulty the spread of the ames was checked and a number of houses of foreign construction, although very seriously threatened, were saved.
The root of an outbuilding of No, 48 Great" Western Road, being used a school for Chines Slightly. affected, but good work on the part of the Divisions on this side kept the outbreak from making further headway.
The whole of the area involved, proximately 250 yards square, was densely covered with squatters huts, mainly composed of straw or mud Walls with thetch or corrugated-iron roots, which added fuel to the flames.
During operations the bodies of ten women and children, all Chi were found in various places and eight injured persons were conveyed to hospitals in Brigade Emergency One Ofleer three firemen sts-tained burns and injuries.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.