INDRADEVI FIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 161, 9 July 1910, Page 5

INDRADEVI FIRE.

THE NAUTICAI, CXWKTS iTNDENG. NO-KEG-LECT OK WBeNGFCI* ACT. COURT CONDEMNS CHARCOAL FOR ' : -., \■• ■■■ ■}; V^iNsxn^ATiON."'.:"■-;; •'■ ..'• ■ The Nautical Court, coneiatihg.of Mr. C. C. Kettle, SJI. (president), Professor -F.* D. Brown, and Captain ~W.-V; J. Reid; which held the inquiry into the circumstances attending the recent fire on the steamer Indrbdevi while -lying■'. at .the Queen-street.' wharf, 1 thi» morning. deliv r ered its-decision. : . ■ • .... ! Captain Fleming (local Superintendent /of Marine) and Mr. J. 'P. Hiding (Col- [ lector of -Gustome). represented tlie : Marine Department. Mr. T. Cotter "rej presented the captain, owners and agents jof the vessel, and Mr. R. MeVeagh the I stevedores, Messrs. R. Nearing and Co. In delivering the decision of the Court, the president eaid:-r"There is no evidence which would warrant the Court, in finding that the i fire was caused by any neglect, default or wrongful act on the part of the master, officers, or any .member of the crew of • the vessel, or of the men .employed by the stevedores in the' discharging of cargo from the vessel. On the contrary, according to the evidence, every care was apparently taken by all' concerned to guard against the occurrence of fire in the vessel's holds.- ' ■ •■' . ' - ' "With regard to the true cauee of the fire there is no conclusive evidence, and a careful inspection of the vessel by members of the Court during the hearing furnished no clue, partly owing 'to the fact that extensive -repairs to the plates, etc., had been already effected, and 'that the; partially-burnt charcoal insulation had been removed. ■'■ ' . . "According £0 the , ev-dehce, the fire was apparently at first confined to th 4 'between decks' of No. 1 ioldr: The seat of the fire appears to have been s bn • the top of the cargo from fifteen to twenty feet forward of the (hatcL".vay; and from; four to'eight feet on the staiboard side of the midship line. The '• insulation above the cargo and also the.-upper, tieirs of the cargo, were burnt,>bnt, except at the nlaee described, the fire! did not extend to. the deck'oii'whicl. the cargo was bestowed. Much of 7 the insulation atr tached to or placed against the forward bulkhead was, however, burnt.. r "According to -the evidence,, the cargo destroyed or. damaged ..by. fire ■ was of a general character, and not of such a nature ac to suggest the probability of , its spontaneous ignition. ": -.■--...: .>! "The inaeceasibility - 1 of _ the r.Tegion where the :fire. occurred-renders It iin-i probable that the cargo, was ignited by I sparks blown into'the- 'between decks,' and the j evidence as to the careful man- i .ner'in which the ' hold. vwas\ guarded ■while the hatches' -were off practically: excludes the theory that the fire might have been; 'caused; by members of the crew or other persons gaining access;to that portion'of the;hold;where the fire apparently originated.- J "Above the place where bUe fite';,oc-l enrred,' and near; the suggested.seat of the; fire before''described,; ia an oil and paint-locker,^or .room, in ; which were: tanks containing various' oila,, including raw linseed' oil.- The' position of ihis oil | and paint-room "immediately, above the } probable eeat of the fire points -to the possibility of Jofl having leaked through the deck into >the. charcoal insulation, and there generated by oxidation sufficient heat to cause ignition; .. '. ■/ "Whether 1 or : not this was the cause of the fire, the.; Cour t; is ,of opinion that co combustible a substance as charcoal should not be used for insulating the holds of ships." Mr: Kettle went on to cay -that the Court congratulated the members of Auckland Fire Brigade for the prompt manner in. which they responded to the warning,, something like 5 minutes only elapsing between the alarm and the time they: arrived at the vessel's side. The Court also desired tot express ite appreciation of the,way in which the master, officers; and. crew of the veascl worked to extinguish the fire. . ..: ■■;. ■:; ■'• ■ In response to Mr. McVeagh's application for costs,, on behalf o£ Meeers. Nearing tand Co'.j "whd'weTe cited to.appear before the Court, his clients.were £5 :5/-, the president remark- 1 ing that ~in doing so the Court, although of opinion that the citation; was perfectly /-justifiable in public interests,! thought it' was only reasonable-under the circumstances that the etevedores should not be called upon to pay, their own co3ta. • ' '" '.1 ''' •' ■'. -■***—'—-——— »»;■■.'-"'-. I