Fire-Proof

Incombustible; not in danger from the action of fire. A statement that a building is fire-proof necessarily excludes the idea that it is of wood, and necessarily implies that it is constructed of some substance fitted for the erection of fire-proof buildings. The characterization of one portion of a building as fireproof suggests a comparison with other portions of the same building, and warrants the tell, 102 N. T. 469, 7 N. B. 821, 65 Am. Rep. 824. In an Insurance policy, a condition that books be kept in a fire-proof safe is complied with if the safe be of the kind commonly regarded as fire-proof; Knoxville Fire Ins. Co. V. Hird, 4 Tex. Civ. App. 82, '23 S. W. 393. The insured does not by this clause warrant his safe to preserve the books; id. Such a clause, commonly called the iron-safe clause, is a warranty the breach of which avoids the policy; Standard Fire Ins. Co. of Kansas City V. Willock (Tex.) 29 S. W. 218; Home Ins. Co. of New Orleans v. Cary, 10 Tex. Civ. App. 300, 31 S. W. 321. See Insubance.

To say of any article that it is "fire-proof" conveys no other idea than that the material out of which it is formed is incombustible. To say of a building that it is fire-proof excludes the idea that it is of wood, and necessarily implies that it is of some substance fitted for the erection of fire-proof buildings. To say of a certain portion of a building that it is fire-proof suggests a comparison between that portion and other parts of the building not so characterized, and warrants the conclusion that it is of a different material. Hickey v. Morrell, 102 N. Y. 459, 7 N. E. 321, 55 Am. Rep. 824.

Defined under Fire in Black's Law Dictionary.