Railway Fir$ Protection. 



101 



Railway right of way previous to clearing. The Railway Act requires that rail- 

 way rights of way shall be maintained free from combustible matter. 



found burning along the right of 

 way; and that sectionmen and other 

 regular employees along the track 

 shall promptly extinguish any fires 

 reported to or found burning by 

 them. The railway company must 

 employ additional labor if such ac- 

 tion is necessary to the extinguish- 

 ment of a particular fire. It will be 

 noted that the whole field organiza- 

 tion of the railway is made a part of 

 the fire-fighting machine. 



In order to fix definitely the re- 

 sponsibility for extinguishing a par- 

 ticular fire, the Order provides that 

 any fire starting or burning within 

 300 feet of the track shall be pre- 

 sumed to have started from the rail- 

 way unless proof to the contrary is 

 furnished. The burden of proof is 

 'thus put squarely on the railway 

 company. The idea is to get the fire 

 out first, and then talk about it later, 

 if necessary. 



Where the fire danger is serious, 

 special patrols are necessary. Here, 

 advantage is taken of the provision of 

 the Order that the railway company 



shall provide and maintain a force 

 of fire-rangers fit and sufficient for 

 efficient patrol and fire-fighting duty 

 during the fire season, all the details 

 of the establishment and maintenance 

 of such force to be subject to the 

 supervision and direction of the Chief 

 Fire Inspector or other authorized 

 officer of the Board. 



This requirement for the establish- 

 ment of special patrols at the expense 

 of the railways themselves is the most 

 progressive and perhaps the most 

 radical feature of the Order, and 

 constitutes its chief distinguishing 

 characteristic. So far as known, 

 neither the National nor any State 

 Government in the United States has 

 enacted legislation along this line 

 which approaches this so far as plac- 

 ing the burden of fire protection upon 

 the railways themselves is concerned. 



As previously noted, the require- 

 ments as to the use of fire-protective 

 appliances are enforced through a 

 special staff of inspectors in the 

 Operating Department of the Board. 



