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FIRES CAN BE AVOIDED! — The adjoining article lists suggestions given the TRPB by electricians in an effort to reduce fire hazards in the barn areas of the nations race courses. Improper use of electrical appliances was held to be the main cause for such conflagrations overloading the circuits in the stabling area nd thus resulting in fires. Shown here are two views of the holocaust which razed barn 22 at the Jamaica race course on Long Island on March 22 and in which * eight horses lost their lives. Improper Use of Electrical Appliances Seen Main Cause of Race Track Fires Responsible for Half of Damage in Past Fifteen Months, TRPB Reports Two grooms and 200 horses were killed and a total loss of more than ,000,000 incurred as a result of 12 barn fires during the last 15 months, according to a report issued by the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, Inc., after a nationwide survey of the causes of the conflagrations. The report, released to member tracks of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations by TRPB president Spencer J. Drayton, cited improper use of electrical appliances as the main cause of the fires, 50 per cent of the blazes being attributed to it. Of the other six fires, three were traced to drinking and smoking, two to arson and one to a gasoline explosion. Emphasis was placed on the high incidence of fires in the colder months, when electrical appliances are heavily used by horsemen, thus overloading the circuits of many tracks. Of the 12 fires covered by the report, 10 occurred during the season of the year when it was probably quite chilly at the racetracks. The survey also showed that three barn fires have already been recorded this year, and that the nine reported in 1952 far exceeded the number in any other year. The TRPB, taking cognizance of the I greater fire hazards during cold weather as ► a result of increased use of electrical fixtures, made a further study of 31 barn fires reported in the American Racing Manual over an 11 -year period from 1941 to 1951. Of the total of 43, it was found there were four fires in the winter, 19 in the spring, five in the summer, and 15 in the fall. Track electricians, interviewed by the TRPB in an effort to gather information on electricity as a fire threat, reported that infra-red lamps, used frequently by horsemen, are the chief cause of overloaded wiring circuits. Other electrical appliances cited as being used more often and drawing a heavy load of electricity were room heaters, clipping machines, feed grinding machines, instant hot water heaters, electrical blankets, hot plates and feoffee makers. Several electricians declared the fire hazard is considerably increased both by igniting characteristics of the appliances themselves — overloading of the barn electrical circuits because of the use of too many appliances on one circuit — and the improvised use of worn and faulty extension wiring and two- and three-way plugs to feed these appliances. The electricians also believed that the infra-red lamps had become highly popular with the horsemen, not primarily for therapeutic purposes, but for heating stalls and keeping horses warm. They added that feed grinding machines are becoming increas- Continued on Page Forty-Fire » Improper Use of Electrical Appliances Main Fire Cause Continued -4rom Page Four ingly popular and draw a heavy load on the circuits with their one-quarter horsepower motors. A study of the observations of the electricians resulted in the following suggestions in the TRPB report designed to reduce ; electrical fire hazards: 1. Where antiquated electrical wiring ap- pears in the barns, it should be modernized in proper conductors, providing a reason- able number of lamp outlets and plug -in | outlets. Plug-in outlets should be in relatively safe but convenient locations. 2. Strict regulations and inspection of all electrical appliances with the provision that no appliance whatsoever can be used until it has been approved by the track superintendent or eiectrican, and its use then limited to the approved location and outlet. 3. Where electric appliances are used in a tack room, the tack room should be separated from the rest of the barn by a suitable fire wall. 4. Complete prohibition of the use of two-and three-way plugs, extension cords and improvised wiring. 5. Adequate supply of hot water in the barn areas to eliminate the need for heating water electrically. 6. Strict prohibition against tampering with fuse boxes or circuit breakers. Fuse boxes should be kept locked and regularly inspected. 7. Strict prohibitions against leaving any electrical infra-red lamp, electrical heater or other electrical appliance turned on when unattended. Of the 12 fires upon which theTRPB report was based, one resulted in a total loss of 85,000, two of 00,000, and another of 50,000. Fire destroyed 26 horses and one barn at Belmont Park on September 14, 1952, with drinking and a carelessly tossed cigarette suspected as the cause. On October 16, 1952, a groom, 10 horses and four barns were lost in a blaze at Waterford Downs, W. Va. The explosion of gasoline used by horsemen for stoves and for doctoring horses legs was given as the reason, with the damage also running to 00,000. The most disastrous fire occurred on Octo- • t ber 26, 1952, at Douglas Park, Ky., when 68 horses were killed. Belmont had another fire earlier in 1952 when a groom and 23 horses were killed on June 16. A barn was also destroyed in the 50,000 blaze. The most recent fire reported was the one at the Jamaica race track on March 22 of this year, when eight horses valued at 5,000 and a 0,000 barn were destroyed, the cause being traced to faulty wiring of an infra-red lamp. Other fires covered by the TRPB survey included Alameda County Fair, Pleasanton, Calif., on March 6, 1952, with a loss of more than 0,000; July 15, 1952, Thistle Downs, Ohio, loss of 00,000; October 16, 1952, New Mexico State Fair, loss of 3,500; November 1, 1952, Lexington Trots, Lexington, Ky., 25 ponies destroyed; November 18, 1952, Timonium, Md., loss of ,500; February 26, 1953, Charles Town, W. Va., loss of 0,000, and March 11, 1953, Lincoln Downs, R. I., loss of 0,000.
