File:A history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco; an account of the disaster of April 18, 1906 and its immediate results (1906) (14786478703).jpg

Identifier: historyofearthqu00aitk (find matches)
Title: A history of the earthquake and fire in San Francisco; an account of the disaster of April 18, 1906 and its immediate results
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Aitken, Frank W Hilton, Edward
Subjects: Earthquakes -- California San Francisco
Publisher: San Francisco, The E. Hilton Co.
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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de-signed blocks were used, they were practically allruined. In that case, however, it is to be notedthat the walls were very thin and were very closeto the steel of the frame work, and that the sidesof the building were nearly all window space. To make a building fire-proof, it is not enoughthat it be constructed of material that will not burn.The various kinds of stone, for instance, are sochipped and cracked by the intense heat that theyhave to be replaced after even an ordinary fire inthe building; and in a great conflagration walls ofsuch material would not stand. Steel and iron, too,while incombustible, are not at all fire-proof, asfire deprives them of their strength and causes themto twist and buckle. The modern fire-proof build-ing—fire-resistive is a better designation—is indeedcomposed of materials that will not burn; but inaddition its vital portions are carefully protected.In a steel frame building the weight is supportedentirely by the frame, which even holds up the
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Photo bv JJ^afers _ln A STUDY OF THE FIRE walls. The frame, in turn, is encased in some ma-terial intended to protect it from the heat of a fire,and prevent its being warped out of shape. Finally,the floors and partitions are made of some materialmore or less fireproof. In such a building a firestarted in one room could be easily put out, andwould not extend to any other room—unless therooms had wooden doors. But against a generalconflagration even these precautions are insuffi-cient to prevent the furniture and furnishings ofeach room in the building burning out—either sin-gly or all at once. When the fire had entered a San Franciscoskyscraper it found little to stop it; its progressfrom room to room was easy. Apart from the fur-niture and cupboards, the wainscots, chair-rails, andfloors were all of wood, and the wooden doors, ar-ranged in line, gave ample opportunity for a draft,as did the open elevator space. One of the greatoffice buildings—the Kohl—had its woodwork allmet

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