轮船行于海上或江中发生火灾，其对人的生命造成的伤害，要比陆上火灾严重得多。这是因为，在船上的人们很难有逃生的机会，即便不被烧死，落入水中也可能被溺死，因而酿成惨剧。正如晚清一位文人所讲的那样：“船上失火，则变生于咫尺，祸烈于瞬息，多有不及逃命者，较别项遭 A fire broke out at sea or in the river, causing much more damage to people’s lives than land-based fires. This is because it is very hard for people on board to have the chance to escape, and even if they are not burnt to death and fall into the water, they may be drowned and cause tragedies. As a literary man in the late Qing dynasty put it: "When a fire breaks out on a ship, it is born at a close.