Service Station
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They Got a
Fire Station !
By P. G. TUCKER
F you want to discover vd-iat
officialdom can do when it sets out to make a really good job of things, you should establish a service depot in the London area. If you are naturally bad tempered you should arrange to be out when the inspectors are around, as assault and battery is looked upon as a serious offence.
A well-known vehicle maker recently opened up a new service depot not 100 miles from Charing Cross. Wishing to equip it in line with modern practice, all the machine tools had their own motors mounted at the most convenient distance from the floor for the particular machine tool.
How ridiculous! What about petrol vapour? Did the manager not know that a spark discharged from the motor brushes could easily cause a fire? No, all the motors, if not flame-proof, must be mounted not lower than 4 ft. 6 ins, from the floor. This machine shop, incidentally, is shut off from the main department.
The same instruction was given in connection with a motor driving a grinding wheel, this tool being in the main department. Whilst the motor had to be raised, nothing was said about the grinding wheel, which gives a firework display every time it is used.
Self-closing doors were insisted upon for the forge and welding shop, despite the fact that the shop had no roof in its own right. It is strange how wood wedges get swept under doors of this type. • A part of the high-pressure water system for vehicle washing is a small tank, which acts as a containet only and has no pressure to withstand other than that exerted by about 12 gallons of water. Whilst the original tank was quite stout enough, no water was made available until a tank made of metal two gauges thicker was installed.
Then it was found that one of the lead pipes to the tank was an inch too low, which meant further delay until it had been raised. The motor driving this excellent fire fighting machine also had to be mounted high up, and with it the pumping unit also.
The most farcical situation arose in connection with the installation of an oil-fired boiler, which is used for supplying a large number of radiator s. Apparently there is a danger that a flash-back may cause fire, so a fusible strip was introduced in a wire lead running to a cut-off cock.
Should a fire break out, the strip melts and the valve is caused to shut. But no, says inspector No. 2, the strip might not melt, and even if it did, the valve might stick. There must be a positive way of shutting off the valve, so the wire on the other side of the fusible strip was extended and taken outside the building, where it terminated in a handle. Should the strip not melt, the valve could be closed forcibly by pulling on the handle. , No. 3 inspector found, to his horror, that there were no fire-fighting appliances in the boiler-room. These were originally considered unnecessary for the reason that, if there were a fire, aoyone in the boiler-house would make for the exit just as quickly as he could. The official view was that if a brave man were in the boiler-house and fire broke out he could do very little if no equipment were available.
So in went a foam extinguisher. Yes, said the fire insurance company, all these things are very nice, but if you want to reduce your premium, why not fit a stop valve outside the building? Quite simple, my dear Watson, so in Vvent a valve. On top of this, all the walls had to be built up with asbestos; this applied also to the roof. The manager's office happens to be right over the boiler-room,. and providing for all emergencies during the winter, he has a water radiator and a gas fire installed. To make certain, the manager asked the electricity authority to wire up for an electric fire. • This the authority would not do, as there was already an alternative system. With the boiler going, he explained, his office became unsufferably hot, so could a point be fitted for a fan? This was quite a different matter and no objections were raised.
There is a small store at this depot, carrying ball races and the like. The bins and racks are all metal; in fact, it is doubtful whether you could start a fire if you wanted to do so. In this case, two fireproof doors had to be fitted, the outer one being provided with the usual fusible strip. The stores open out with the fireproof door to a serving counter, whilst the other door in the storeroom leads to the offices.
This door is of normal wood construction, which apparently is considered quite satisfactory—double fireproof doors on one side and a wood door on the other, but the latter must be kept bolted !
Some people do make things• a little difficult, as • this, over 200 sprinklers had to be installed, although the building had previously been in use for a number of years as the service depot of another vehicle maker !