FACTORY DAMAGED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 37, 23 November 1937, Page 5

FACTORY DAMAGED.

A FIRE AT AUCKLAND, (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, November 22. Extensive damage to the structure and contents of an old two storeyed wooden building in Wellington Place, off Wellington Street, in the city, was caused when a quantity of floor polish caught fire. The fire quickly spread throughout the building and because of the nature of the stocks on the premises, a considerable period elapsed before the fire brigade could get the flames under control. The fire started on the ground floor, ill quarters occupied by Easton Products, Ltd., manufacturers of ’cleaners and disinfectants. The floor polish, having a large turpentine content, was being drawn from a 90-gallon boiler when it became ignited through close proximity to a gas jet. Blazing polish spread over the concrete floor, and although an effort was made to extinguish it with sacks, the liquid reached the wooden walls and various articles in the room, immediately setting them alight. As the timbers of the building were old and the stock largely consisted of methylated spirits, turpentine, wax, and other inflammable matter used in the manufacture of cleansers the fire soon had a strong hold, minor explosions of containers punctuating its advance. The flames leaping from the roof, and a dense column of pungent black smoke, attracted hundreds of spectators, who crowded in adjacent lanes and back yards. Mr G. Easton, the principal of Easton Products, Ltd., stated tha4 stocks on the premises were valued at £1500,, for which a policy of £SOO was placed with the New Zealand Insuranc Company. Tlio occupants of the upper sterey were a bag merchant and a tyre dealer. . . . . E .

A number of tyres and a quantity of other rubber material was saved,; but a portion of tlie floor collapsed and >t was difficult to estimate the full extent of the damage. The building w r as part of the Hanley Estate. ' ’•