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Hollywood Sets Pace Among Nations Tracks With Fire Prevention System Methods, Precautions and Equipment Could Well Serve As Model for Other Courses HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 4. "Fire," a feared word at sea, is no less frightening in the stable area of a race track. In the past 20 years over 2,000 horses have burned to death on American back-stretches. The recent horrible holocaust in Detroit, in which 40 thoroughbreds and two stable ponies died cruel deaths, has pin-pointed what should be racings next great goal fire prevention methods which will shrink the possibility of such blazes to an imperceptible minimum. There is active evidence that it can be done, and Hollywood Park is the shining example of what a race track can and will do to protect its own and the horsemens property. The Inglewood track doesnt exalt itself as a hero. Its respect for the dread-fulness of fire was forced upon it in 1949 when a spectacular multi-million dollar blaze destroyed the entire stand structure but fortunately did not reach into the stable area where hundreds of horses were awaiting the approaching meeting. Management Reaction The reaction among management to the shocking thought of what a catastrophe it might have been in a humane way as it was in a materialistic way was to resolve there would not be a second fire. And when architects and contractors went to work on the new structure the highest priority was to incorporate a complete fire-prevention system and to augment that system with enforced rules that would make the mechanical features work effectively. While most tracks even those where some of the worst conflagrations have occurredtake many precautions to prevent fires, the public takes .a critical view of such tragedies. Day after day they read of racings expanding popularity, of million-dollar grandstand additions, of new turf courses, of refurbished turf clubs, rebuilt racing strips and two and three-million-dollar "handles." Weighing these things with the devastating fires, they are quick to accuse, the tracks of greed, of a calloused attitude toward the suffering of the horses, the men who try to save them and the great property loss owners incur. This attitude may not be deserved, but the tracks receive it. During the past 15 years American racing has earned its mounting fandom by cleaning its own house and keeping it clean. The next major job in racing is to wipe out the fire hazard. Hollywood Parks efforts in that direction should be noted because they have proved effective and they may inspire other associations to take similar preventive steps. Hollywood Parks stables are of wood with all interiors coated, with a fire-retarding paint. The wood, so painted, can take the blast of a blow-torch without flaming. The wood will char, but it does not blaze. Then there is a high-pressure water system piped to every section of the stable and grandstand area. On the ceiling of each stall are three super-sensitive sprinkler heads. Along the roofed shed that runs along the side of each stable building there is a sprinkler head every eight feet. Long firehoses, connected to the high-pressure water system, are ready for use within a few yards of any part of the stable area, and chemical extinguishers are hung in plain sight all along the stable walls outside and inside. Strategically placed on the property is a high observation tower, manned 24 hours a day by a fire warden. From this point he can see smoke or fire in any section of the grounds. If a single sprinkler head opens, an alarm bell rings in the tower and in headquarters of the Inglewood city fire department. A light on a control panel shows where the open sprinkler is located, and an electric control automatically increases water pressure in the area from which the alarm originated. Immediately, the tracks own modern fire engine and equipment, as well-as the equipment from Inglewood answers the call. On one false alarm, the Inglewood city equipment arrived in four minutes. Although there has been no stable area fire since the system was installed, Inglewood Fire Chief Basil Roberts believes the automatic system guarantees the confinement of the fire to a very small area. However, the tracks objective is to keep the fire from starting, not merely confining it. The precautions taken in this direction are enlightening. Only small quantities of hay and straw are permitted in the stables or sheds adjoining them. Hollywood provides separate storage sheds for the hay and straw, with the stable superintendent dictating the amount of hay aiyi straw to be moved into the stalls. Smoking in stalls and feed rooms is prohibited, as are oil lamps and stoves. An owner must, even get permission from the track fire department to use an oil-base fly spray in the area. Spotted throughout the backstretch area are large, colorful posters urging all track personnel to keep "drunks and irresponsible persons" away from the stables.
