Popular Science Monthly 



Vol. 90 

 No. 2 



239 Fourth Avenue, New York City 



February, 1917 



$1.50 

 Annually 



Safety Searchlights For Firemen 



Fire rescue operations simplified by the use of a new 

 lamp which gives the fireman the free use of both hands 



IT is obvious to anyone familiar with 

 fire-fighting that a lighting equipment 

 which will enable the fireman to see 

 his way in a gas and smoke-filled room and 

 at the same time allow him a free and un- 

 obstructed use of the hands and arms would 

 meet with instant favor. At the present 

 time the fireman uses a simple oil- 

 burning torch or acet\'lene lamp 

 which he carries in his hand. His 

 efficiency as a fire-fighter is, of 

 course, greatly lessened, since 

 he has the free use of only one 

 hand. 



A new searchlight tested 

 by the Cincinnati fire de- 

 partment and now adopted 

 as a part of the standard 

 equipment of that depart- 

 ment, may yet supplant the 

 torch and acetylene lamp. 

 The lamp is strapped on the 

 back of a fireman. The 

 burner or lamp extends 

 above the fireman's head, 

 and an extension allows 

 of adjustment, so that the 

 fireman can direct the rays 

 of the lamp in any direction 

 desired. The device weighs 

 thirty-two pounds. 



The searchlight is intended 

 to be of greatest service in 

 fires where rescue work has 

 to be carried on. The fire- 

 man equipped with it has 

 his arms free to use as he 

 wishes. In entering a burn- 

 ing building where the dense 

 smoke makes it impossible 

 to use a small light, the new 

 lamp would be of great as- 

 sistance. It cuts a clean swath of light 

 through the densest smoke, permitting 

 the members of a rescue squad to carry on 

 their work with safety and dispatch. 

 The drawing on the opposite page 



The new lamp is fastened 

 on the back of a fireman 

 with a strap resembling 

 suspenders. The burner 

 extends above his head 



vividly illustrates the use of the new lamp 

 by firemen carr^-ing on rescue operations 

 in the hold of a ship where the smoke and 

 gases are particularly thick. Fortunately, 

 the hold is high enough to permit the fire- 

 men to work with the new lamps without 

 bending their backs to clear obstructions. 

 The fireman in the foreground can 

 thus climb the ladder with a suf- 

 focated boy in his arms — some- 

 thing which would be extremely 

 difficult to do were he obliged 

 to hold on to a hand lamp at 

 the same time. 



The principal objection to 



the lamp is found in its 



excessive height. In New 



York, for instance, most 



fires of a gaseous and 



smoky nature occur in 



cellars with ceilings so low 



that the firemen are obliged 



to crawl instead of walk 



in them. This is especially 



true of sub-cellars, which 



are so low as to eliminate 



at once the use of such 



lamps unless the wearers 



are willing to undergo the 



inconvenience of constantly 



bending their backs. 



On the other hand, it is 

 said that no lighting ap- 

 paratus ever will take the 

 filace of the hand lamp for 

 the reason that it is, after 

 all, the most convenient 

 means of directing a ray of 

 light to a desired spot in a 

 minimum of time. True, the 

 new lamp can be focussed 

 in any direction, but not 

 until the man wearing it reaches behind 

 his head and adjusts the arm. Another 

 objection to the 'new lamp is that falling 

 objects could easily sever the lamp from 

 its stem. 



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