COMMITTEE. 139 
by the fire owe their desolation for the most part to their environment 
by these inflammable buildings. 
There was no dynamiting corps in the fire deparment and no ade- 
quate salt-water system for fighting fires, although the city was 
almost surrounded by salt water, and there were no fire boats be- 
longing to the department, and few cisterns in the streets or squares. 
Most of the streets were very narrow, and many of them were lined 
by high wooden buildings. With the water mains and distribution 
system incapacitated by the earthquake, it is no wonder that the city 
burned; the only wonder is that it had not burned before. This re- 
sult had been prophesied by insurance inspectors many months 
previously. 
ABSTRACT OF REPORT OF ENGINEERS' COMMITTEE OF THE 
NATIONAL BOARD OF FIRE UNDERWRITERS. 
The Coast Review, an insurance paper, gives an abstract of the 
report and conclusions of the engineers' committee of the National 
Board of Fire Underwriters. This report was published in October, 
1905, many months preceding the occurrence of the great fire, and is 
epitomized as follows : 
The area of San Francisco within the " fire limits " was 1.6 square 
miles. The " brick district " comprehended 0.95 square mile, and 
the " congested-value district " 0.49 square mile. The number of fires 
in the preceding nine years was moderate, but the average loss at each 
fire was two or three times the loss expected in cities having ordinary 
fire protection. The water supply was satisfactory in many respects, 
although the pressure (the average being 52 pounds) was too low for 
automatic sprinkler equipments, standpipes, etc. The fire hydrants 
were of an old style, and many water mains were too small. There 
were four water services, varying for districts of different levels. It 
was stated that the fire department was satisfactory in most respects, 
but that the building laws were not enforced thoroughly and impar- 
tially. The fire-alarm system was criticised adversely. 
The " congested-value district " was bounded on the north by a 
mixed mercantile, warehouse, and dwelling section ; on the west by a 
fashionable boarding-house, apartment, and residence district; on 
the south by a compactly built mixed district composed of dwellings 
and manufacturing and mercantile buildings, and on the east by the 
Bay of San Francisco. This district consisted of 101 blocks, contain- 
ing 2,08G separate buildings, of which 2.2 per cent were fireproof, 
68.3 were joistecl brick, and 29.5 were frame buildings. There was 
only one sprinkler equipment in the district, and it was practically 
obsolete. Premises were generally clean and well cared for. 
The " potential hazard " in the produce and commission district 
bounded by Battery, Washington, Drumm, and Commercial streets 
was said to be serious. The expert inspectors claimed to have found 
