H—l2

Tlie returns of losses in fire districts attached annually to these reports are probably slightly .less accurate than the corresponding national figures. This is, firstly, because they are in some cases prepared before the insurance payments are made, and the estimate of the brigade officer is probably not so accurate as that of the insurance adjuster. In the second place they include a figure for uninsured loss which is usually based on the owner's estimate. In very few cases have the owners of residential property accurate schedules of contents on which such an estimate can be based, and stock records in commercial buildings are often destroyed or are unreliable. It must also be noted that the returns have reference only to the fires attended by the brigades. There are, in addition, a considerable number of small fires, mostly involving damage of less than a £lOO value, which are extinguished without calling the brigade. The insurance companies pay out on these fires, and the loss is therefore included in the national returns. The recording of fire losses in fire districts is of definite value despite its comparative inaccuracy. The fire districts include most of the urban property, and this will be even more the case when the new legislation comes into force. The returns are available much earlier than the national figures, and since they cover a large percentage of the property at risk in New Zealand they serve to confirm or modify the trends, indicated by the national returns. They also give some positive indication of the value of the fire protection service in any individual district and tend to encourage the brigades in their work and to justify the expenditure on the fire service by the local authorities. Reference has been made in these reports during recent years to the sharp rise v hich has occurred in the national fire losses, and to the increase in the number of fires l jtended by the brigades. These trends are clearly shown in the following table, which covers the period since the First World War. Attention is directed to the remarkable similarity between the fire experience of the peak-loss period 1926-1931 and the years immediately following the Second World War. There is the same sudden increase in the number of fires within two years, and the concurrent heavy increase in the loss figures. It seems not unlikely that the reason for both increases is an economic one. The view is widely held that the most important economic influence on loss by fire is that arising from the fact that in times of falling prices it sometimes pays to have a fire in insured property. This may result, apart from the possibilities of incendiarism, in lesser care with respect to fire on the part of owners and those responsible for the control of property. It is possible, however, to make the deduction from the facts set out in the table that there is an even more important fire-loss factor arising from economic conditions such as unsettlement due to the war, monetary inflation, or a general state of prosperity, which should be given some consideration. Table I—Number of Fires and Total Fire Loss in Fire Districts, 1918-49 Number Number of Fire Number Total of Fire Number Total Districts. of Fires. Fire Loss. Districts. of Fires. Fire Loss_ £ £ 1918-19 .. 31 416 151,158 1934-35 .. 53 753 173,172 1919-20 .. 35 480 137,772 1935 36 .. 54 765 181,296 1920-21 .. 35 540 394,704 1936-37 .. 55 812 199,592 1921-22 .. 35 531 183,619 1937-38 .. 55 859 170,167 1922-23 .. 38 589 238,313 1938-39 .. 55 905 441,489 1923-24 .. 40 741 358,024 1939-40 .. 55 892 280,278 1924-25 ..43 828 306,114 1940-41 .. 55 849 228,929 1925-26 .. 46 898 352,638 1941-42 .. 56 792 466,589 1926-27 (9months)) 48 1,291 516,366 1942-43 .. 58 903 309,128 1927-28 .. 49 1,044 498,671 1943-44 .. 59 902 334,600 1928-29 .. 50 1,350 710,596 1944-45 .. 60 1,391 548,354 1929-30 .. 51 1,351 410,217 1945-46 .. 60 1,807 876,127 1930-31 .. 55 1,333 548,729 1946-47 .. 60 1,648 1,201,508 1931-32 .. 55 862 373,820 1947-48 .. 60 1,940 992,207 1932-33 .. 53 737 201,736 1948-49 .. 60 1,973 541,64T 1933-34 .. 54 705 245,195

2