FIRE.

About seventeeh'minutespast three O'clock yesterday morning an alarm of fire'was' given. The bell.in the City Council yard •commenced to ring 'almost immediately after,', and the fire-bell and bell attached to St. Michael's were also employed to spread the jalarm. The h>e,had,broken out in that part [of Colombo street lying'between Hereford (street and. iCiwhel.'streets,'aid oppdsite 'the (Colombo street face of the Triangle. It is jsupposed to have dtfginated in ah empty shop iadjoinihg the. premises i tecedtly(occupied byi > iMessra Langdown and Judge, butchers. jThe morning ,wa»,jrery cpld.andoalni, with |only ; a very slight breeze, a hard frost having !'?*.'» foiring the night. It soon became jevident that" all hop"es"of savinglhe"store" jof ■' Mr' Bridgnian bust • be' abandoned, as the jfl're had obtained auoh 1 a Aiast'ery'. TheneiV jthing to be done was to out off ! cation 'with ! the'' adjoining'' premises'. To' leffeet this, ab'bdy ttf men ! attached'ropes to' .the archway'connecting Mr''Bunnell's • sale-' Tobms'withMrßridgmWß store, and soon succeeded in 1 maWhg :i aft entire separation,'a' roadway interyehibg.fi'Onl'the.'other side of : 'tlie spot where the.fire : was raging, it 'appeared '' only too prdbable that 'the 'Hkiiway Chbp- : house would 1 becomelgriited; : To pfev'etit this; ! ,a small intervening house was 1 pulled down', ; 'and thus communication was cut (iff on that' 1 Wde. The fire' was thus confined to a small' jarea, but continued .to burn fiercely. Mr 1 ;Bridgmau's premises were entirely consumed, jalthough the' ; galvanized iron partition for 1* long" time 1 resisted 'th'e : ; progress' of the'flames.' Two artesian wells in. the Triangle were' set flowing, arid'discharged .streams of water into the side channel of Colombo street, opposite to the scene of the fire. A'dam was thrown up,'from which a Considerable quantity of water wbs obtained,' and was thrown 1 by the spectators upon the fire. 1 By this means the Are,' wkioh had just caught Mr.. Burnell'a store, was effectually arrested. ' .

About twenty-two minutes to four tho steam flre-engine took up its station close to the river at.the foot of Hereford street. Steam was got up with little delay, and the engine commenced to work. Unfortunuttly a breakdown again occurred; and the lire Brigade wore compelled to desist from working it. They then setto work with a will at the lessef engine, nrtd at three minutes to four eommuneed playing on the fire. Soon afterwards there \Vas a perceptible diminution 1 in the force of the Are. The great diffloulty was to obtain relays of men to'work'tlie im the nwjority of the spectators contented themselves with looking on with the most

stolid apathy. About klf-past' % four#e' Are wai mastered. The Talue 'oftfieswSi pertjr dlstroyed Is about £4oomt is slated that the leases of, the houses dMtroyed will' expire this day. The land belong to cTptahr Berkeley, who was at one time Aide-de-camp to Sir George Grey. : The large plate-glass wiridowstiu Mr. Ruddenklau's brick building, opposite'to the aceno of the flrj, were cracked, by the heat,, and the sign-boards on the Israe side of the street have been rendered ajmost illegible, thus proving that the 1 . Triangle has had another narrow escape. The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained, nor the exact amount of the damage done. The buildings and their contents were partially insured, The offices of the New Zealand Insurance Company, and those of the London and Liverpool, and the London and Lancashire hare principally suffered by the Are; the latter, howevor. only slightly. ■.-'.::■ . The Police, Fire Brigade, and Volunteers all rendered good service, and the Chairman and several members of the City Council were early on the ground, and spared no exertions to arrest the progress of the fire. The flro is not to be measured by the loss which has actually ta'ceh place, but by thu serious loss which would have resulted had any part of the Triangle caught Are. What little wind there waß drove ths Aames straight on to the shop occupied by Mr Phillips, tobacconist, at the corner of ths Triangle, and the roof of the Qy Hotel. The portions of these buildings next the Are were promptly covered with blankets and a pie tllj' supply of water constantly poured tin. It will be noticed that there was very considerable delay before the Fire Brigade got actually to work. How this was occasioned does not seem very clear. It affords another proof that the Brigade requires to be Temodelled, and to be placed on such a footing as will afford assurance of prompt, judicious, and well-directed work.