Summary: Film made for the Fire Officers' Committee as part of the National Campaign Against Fire Wastage, supported by the Government Departments concerned.
Description: The film shows: a fire which deprived 10,000 fighting men of their uniforms; a fire which consumed petrol, the lifeblood of a thousand warplanes; a fire in a factory which robbed six hundred men and women of their jobs; a fire which destroyed food for a thousand families; the morning after a factory fire, where production has come to an end overnight, goods and machinery have gone up in smoke, and yesterday's jobs no longer exist. Reasons why the fire may have been caused; for example, a cigarette end falling on rubbish, a lighted match being dropped down a broken pavement light with inflammable packing material underneath it, smouldering ashes being put in a wooden box near a wooden shed, and using a candle for checking markings on packing cases. A catalogue of don'ts, which includes not piling litter up around an electric motor, not setting down a lighted blow lamp near any combustible material, not drying things on a radiator, not smoking in bed, not indulging in slipshod cookery, and not drying tea-towels or towels near a naked flame. The film concludes with a comedy scene of a man named Jeremy trying to put out a fire with the commentary pointing out things that are wrong. The final statement suggests that 'fire is always a serious matter and every preventable fire with consequent loss in war means a setback to the nation'.
Production Details: Fire Officers' Committee (Production sponsor)
GB Screen Services (Production company)
Harvey, Walter (Production individual)
Goodwin, Harold B (Production individual)
Ewins, James (Production individual)
Walter, R B (Production individual)
Claff, Lionel (Production individual)
Howland, Alan Herbert18991946 (Production cast)
Personalities, Units and Organisations:
Keywords: destruction, British - fire (object name)
propaganda, British - practical (object name)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Sound
Soundtrack language: English
Title language: English
Subtitle language: None
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 1
Footage: 990 ft; Running time: 10 mins
