In every part of the United States the losses are enormous year after year. It has been estimated that they amount to half a million dollars per day, taking the country as a whole. If all the buildings burned in the United States during a single year were placed side by side they would form an unbroken street from Chicago to New York. The loss of life in these fires is also appalling; it amounts to about three thousand per year. What are the reasons for this situation; why is it so much worse than in other countries? [Sidenote: Reasons for this heavy loss.] There are two reasons for it; one of them we cannot control, the other we can. We cannot easily alter the fact that most of the buildings, whether in the cities or the rural districts of the United States, have been built of inflammable materials. Lumber has been cheap and it has been used lavishly. In Europe most buildings are of brick or stone.[90] With the depletion of the timber supply in America and the increased price of lumber fewer frame buildings will be constructed in the United States as time goes on. The other reason for our large fire-losses is one which can be controlled. It is summed up in a single word—carelessness. To some extent this carelessness is the fault of the public authorities; to a larger extent it is the fault of private individuals. [Sidenote: Public prevention measures.] The public authorities have not been sufficiently active in framing and enforcing measures for the prevention of fires. They have allowed certain neighborhoods to become veritable fire-traps, liable to be wiped out by a conflagration at any moment. During the past few years the state and city officials have been coming to realize the importance of prevention, however, and the laws relating to fire hazards have been growing more strict. Special rules are now applied to theaters, factories, garages, tenements, and other buildings in which fires are liable to result in the loss of life. Special fire prevention officials have been appointed in some of the larger communities; their duty is to inspect all buildings in which fires are likely to occur and to enforce the fire prevention rules. An endeavor has also been made to educate the people to the need of exercising greater care. This is done by distributing circulars and by instruction in the schools. [Sidenote: The chief causes of fires.]