64 THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE. 
valuable information that made it possible to avoid useless expendi- 
ture of time, and who was also of great service in procuring for me 
the necessary permits from the local civil authorities. 
EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF A COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL 
BOARD OF FIRE UNDERWRITERS ON SAN FRANCISCO CONDI- 
TIONS. 
San Francisco before the earthquake and fire consisted mainly of 
frame and brick buildings of ordinary construction. A few adobe 
buildings still remain, but there were not many of these. There 
were about 45 so-called fireproof buildings in the city, and a small 
number of so-called slow-burning buildings, modeled more or less 
loosely along the lines of the New England mills. A fair idea of the 
general nature of the city, so far as buildings are concerned, is given 
in the following quotations from a report on San Francisco issued by 
the committee of twenty of the National Board of Fire Underwriters 
in October, 1905 : 
CONFLAGRATION HAZARD. 
Potential. — In view of the excessively large areas, great heights, numerous 
unprotected openings, general absence of fire breaks and stops, highly com- 
bustible nature of the buildings, many of which have sheathed walls and ceilings, 
frequency of light wells, and the presence of interspersed frame buildings, the 
potential hazard is very severe. 
Probability feature. — The above features, combined with the almost total lack 
of sprinklers, and absence of modern protective devices generally, numerous 
and mutually aggravating conflagration breeders, high winds and compara- 
tively narrow streets, make the probability feature alarmingly severe. 
Summary. — While two of the five sections into which the congested-value 
district is divided involve only a mild conflagration hazard within their own 
limits, they are badly exposed by the others, in which all the elements of the 
conflagration hazard are present to a marked degree. Not only is the hazard 
extreme within the congested-value district, but it is augmented by the presence 
of a compact surrounding, great-height, large-area, frame-residence district, 
itself unmanageable from a fire-fighting standpoint by reason of adverse con- 
ditions introduced by the topography. In fact, San Francisco has violated all 
underwriting traditions and precedents by not burning up ; that it has not done 
so is largely due to the vigilance of the fire department, which can not be relied 
upon indefinitely to stave off the inevitable. 
In another portion of the same report the following occurs : 
The principal features affecting the conflagration hazard in the business sec- 
tion are bad exposures, poor construction, lack of proper protective devices, 
excessive height in nonfireproof buildings, large floor areas, and the large per- 
centage of frame construction present. 
The mixed dwelling and minor mercantile section which immediately sur- 
rounds the congested-value district, and extends from it in all directions with 
more or less uniformity, is alarmingly compact. 
* * * The security resulting from a combination of redwood and such 
dampness as exists in San Francisco is regarded by the national board engineers 
as fancied merely. 
