Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

An investigation has been made of 175 fires in textile dyeing, printing, bleaching and finishing premises. The greater part of the loss occurs in the few really large fires, and is mainly caused by damage to stocks of textiles. About 20 per cent of the fires are caused by mechanical heat and sparks, and in about 25 per cent of the fires textile fly or fluff and dust was the material first ignited. Better "housekeeping", the installation of more fire-breaks, avoiding the storage of large quantities of textiles, and the provision of sprinklers would reduce the fire incidence to a considerabe extent.