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Sic, — Office of Inspector of Fire Brigades, Wellington, 3rd May, 1913. Following upon an inspection of the Hastings Fire Brigade and the Fire Police Corps, with their equipments, held on the 21st ultimo, I have the honour to forward the following report for the consideration of your Board : — At the inspection muster there were present —Fire brigade : The Superintendent, Deputy, sixteen firemen, and two messengers; these, with four on leave, accounted for twenty-four out of the total strength of twenty-six then on the roll. Fire Police Corps : The Captain, one Lieutenant, and eight constables, with two on leave and one unaccounted for —a much better attendance than has been the case for some time past. An ordinary monthly wet drill was carried out, during the course of which, with the pressure on the station gauge registering 132 lb., a length of new hose burst rather badly, and I was informed that more lengths of the same brand of new hose had burst very badly whilst in use at a recent fire. Some members of the brigade require more instruction, and practice in the use of the stand-pipes. The station alarm-bell and relay has been installed in such a manner as to be of very little service to the public, for which purpose it was supposed to be obtained. This should be altered, and fitted up in the manner as suggested in the first instance. Whilst in the station on the morning of the 22nd I noticed there was no pressure of water registering on the gauge, and I understand that upon more than one occasion the water has been shut off, leaving the mains empty, and no notice has been sent to the central station. The brigade should be notified upon all occasions when the water is to be shut off throughout the town or any section thereof. I would recommend to your Board the advisability of completing the equipment of the brigade to the extent of providing a motor-car appliance and installing a street fire-alarm system. An economical and at the same time efficient method would be to purchase a new chassis (30 h.p. R.A.C.) and have the body built locally, at the same time mounting on the car the chemical cylinder at present in possession of the brigade. I estimate the recommendation could be carried out, both motor-car and alarm system, for about £1,000. Failing the installation of a street alarm system at present I would suggest the utilization of private telephones, on the lines as explained at the time of my visit. I have, &c, Thos. T. Hugo, Inspector of Fire Brigades. The newly installed high-pressure water system is now available for fire-extinction purposes over the larger portion of the town, and a pressure of 1301b.'—a little over at times —is registered on the station gauge. During the past year sixteen fires have occurred in the district, four more than during the previous year. The brigade received twenty calls, and the attendance of brigadesmen at nineteen (No. 9 omitted) averaged 17"6 per call, or 652 per cent, of the full strength. The fire loss amounted to £3,208, compared with £2,809 for the previous year, an increase of £399. The estimated cost of the brigade for the year 1913-14 is £1,146, as against £1,051 for 1912-13, an increase of £95, accounted for by provision for new hose, uniforms, motor for ringing fire-bell, &c. HAWERA. Two visits have been paid to Hawera, the first on the 26th to the 28th August, for the purpose of holding an inquiry into the circumstances attending the fire that occurred on the premises of the Central Hotel and McGruer, Bone, and Co. in that town. On the 27th experiments were carried out with the purpose of illustrating the actual pressure and flow of water available under different conditions. A series of pressure-readings was taken from a hydrant fixed on the 6 in. main opposite to the Borough Chambers, between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon. The initial pressure registered was 53 lb. The turbine pump, working off the supply main, was then turned on, when the reading fell to 421b., a drop of 111b. The pump was stopped and the pressure rose again to 541b. The pressure recorded throughout averaged 53 lb. A comparison between my gauge and the one at the Council Chambers showed the latter was weak to the extent of registering 3 lb. more than it should do. At 7.45 p.m. the pressure recorded from a hydrant fixed on the 6 in. main in High Street, opposite McGruerBone's premises, was 60 lb. All subsequent readings were taken at this point. Following the procedure as carried out during the fire, up to the time of the partial concentration of the water, a delivery having a in. nozzle was got to work from Union Street, when the pressure dropped to 42 in. A second delivery was got to work from High Street : this caused the pressure to drop to 27 lb. To observe the effect produced by a proper concentration, and following the lines adopted as during my previous visit to Hawera, both deliveries were shut off, and at 8.8 p.m. orders were given to shut off the turbine pump. At 8.12.38 p.m. the pressure had risen from 601b. to 731b.; at 8.16 p.m. orders were given to shut down certain valves, and at 8.28 p.m. the pressure had risen to 89 lb. Three deliveries, one J in. and two f in. nozzles, were then got to work, and a remaining pressure of 341b. recorded. The experiments, that agree with those previously carried out by me, and in connection with which certain advice and cautions were given (see report dated 26th January, 1912), show that with a proper system of working a pressure of over 70 lb. can be made available in High Street within four minutes of an alarm of fire being received, and with a reliable system of concentration carried out immediately upon an alarm being sounded there is no reason why the maximum

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