§ Mr. Gledhillasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that a special type of fire extinguisher is manufactured and supplied for extinguishing incendiary bombs; and whether he will inform the local air-raid precautions authorities of this fact and also that the ordinary carbon tetrachloride type is not suitable for this work?
§ Sir J. AndersonI am not sure what particular type of fire extinguisher my hon. Friend has in mind. In the view of my technical advisers the most efficient hand appliance for dealing with incendiary bombs and the resultant fires is the stirrup hand pump with dual purpose nozzle made to Home Office specification. The use of this appliance has been recommended to local authorities and others in A.R.P. Handbook No. 9 on Incendiary Bombs and Fire Precautions, and in Public Information Leaflet No. 5 on Fire Precautions in War Time. As regards the second part of the question, the handbook to which I have referred also contains a specific warning as to the risks of using certain types of chemical extinguishers, including those which employ carbon tetrachloride, for the purpose of incendiary bomb control.