A BIG BLAZE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 51, 1 March 1915, Page 6

A BIG BLAZE.

, _0 *-; OUTBREAK AT EPSOM. SEVEN SHOPS DESTROYED. ! 1 TRAM DEPOT NARROWLY i ESCAPES. ! i r- ■ j FIREMEN'S WORK HANTDCAPPED. f 1 l HEAT MAKES THE FTRE \ UNAPPROACHABLE. ' — : A disastrous fire occurred shortly be- I fore six o'clock this morning by which ; a block of seven shops in Manukau Road, 1 Ejsom, was totally destroyed, while two adjoining shops, as well as the j Epsom tram barn, narrowly escaped destruction. The shops destroyed aX had j dwelling houses attached, the occupiers ;being:— ~ S. and V. Eslick, drapers. s E. J. Ivory, tobacco and fancy goods, s Miss Cox, fruit and confectionery. 1 W. J. Runciman, bootmaker. '' E. Lee. ironmonger. * - J. Griffen, fish merchant. ] F. Jones, fruiterer. I . The premises owned and occupied by ' Mr. Coppins, of the Alexandra Supply l "Stores, and by Mr. J. T. Quayle, boot- 1 maker, suffered minor damage. Four 1 of the shops were contained in a wooden < block «mly completed a fortnight ago, 6 and owned by the Misses Davison, of < Remuera. These were the shops occn- * pied by Messrs. Runciman, Griffen, Lee, « and Jones. Mr. Eslick owned his own property, the shop occupied by Mr. Ivory was owned ay Mr. S. Vincent, and that occupied :by Miss Cox belonged to the Adams Estate. NOTHING SAVED. Apparently the fire- broke out at about 10 minutes to six in the premises occupied by 'Mr. Ivory. A strong westerly ( wind was blowing, and as there was no one in tbe house at the time the fire , was not detected until the flames were • breaking through the roof. In fact, Miss Cox, who resided in the adjoining premises, was only awakened by the sound of a falling ceiling. Apparently the flames had gained a tremendous hold, for ' in les3 than 20 minutes the whole block 1 was ablaze. The seven families residing ' in the burning buildings bad no time to save anything—in fact, the few articles of furniture rescued would not ' have been sufficient to fill a single room. The occupiers of the premises for the s most part saved nothing but the few ' articles of dotting which they were able ' to snatch up as they rushed into the ' street. TRAM BARN SUFFERS. ' The burning block was directly opposite to the Epsom tram barn, and when the fire broke out the first cars were just preparing to leave the barn. A stiff breeze was blowing from behind the shops, and when all the upper storeys j were simultaneously alight it was a fearsome spectacle. The flames were carried right across the street, and seemed to envelop the Tramway Company's pro- ■ perty. Nearly all the -windows in the . barn building cracked under the heat, , and flames from across the way actually '. made their appearance through the . broken panes. Fortunately the great structure is of iron, but the woodwork ' of the windows, and wooden eaves under . the roofing, caught ablaze in several , places. All the telegraph and tramway • poles in the vicinity caught fire, even . those on the other side of the road being , half chu«red through. The tramway wires, as well as telegraph and telephone wires, were, burned through, and con- . stituted a fresh danger. Tramway traffic was hung up for the best part of the next two hours, and it was largely due .to the efforts of the tramwaymen that the two remaining shops in the block, as well as the tram barn itself, did not goELECTRIC WIBES A DANGER. - To stand anywhere in the main street between the burning block and the tramway building was an impossibility. [ The night staff of the Tramway Co., as [ well as the men just coming on to the morning shift, combined to put up a ; great fight: Hoses: fortunately,' are kept at the Epsom depot, and these •were brought into commission, and played from inside the barn, through the windows, on to the conflagration. The Green Lane fire brigade arrived very soon after the alarm was given, and the Newmarket brigade also responded to \ the call. The firemen were handicapped by the fact that the wind was driving the fire like a furnace through the full length of the block, the heat being so intense that they could only approach from -the south-west corner. The danger of coming into contact with the numerous electric wires, which had fallen on the roadway, also rendered their task more difficult, and at first they had to be content to operate from Albert Road only. Ultimately the electric current was cut off. Fanned by the breeze, the fire simply roared through the seven shops and their upstairs living apartments. From the beginning there was not the faintest hope of saving any of them. The brigade and the willing helpers from the tramway depots did. remarkably well to save Mr. Coppin's store, which formed the corner building of the block. Between his premises and the shop occupied by Mr. Eslick was a space of some six inches, and by concentrating on this small break they managed to prevent the flames spreading, and thus cleaning out the whole block. REDUCED TO ASHES. The fire made the cleanest possible sweep of the seven buildings concerned. One charred wall of Mr. Eslick's shop remains standing, with a few half burned bundles of good 3 near the front entrance. But of the other shops not even a vestige of framework remains. The whole row, -within two hours, was reduced completely to ashes. It indicates the intensity- -with which the fire burned when it is stated that nothing remains but a few crumpled sheets of iron from the roofing- and a heap of finely reduced ash. Buildings, stock, furniture, and household effects were completely demolished. AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE. One of those who were burned out was Mr. Griffen. He states that at 5.30 this morning he got up and prepared a cup of tea, afterwards returning to his room. At that time everything was quite all right. Twenuy minutes later, however, he saw flames and smoke issuing from the premised occupied by Mr. Ivory higher up the street. So rapidly did the fire spread that he had-only tame

to get his family out and a few articlei of clothing together before his shop was ablaze. "It all 'happened with remark ably rapidity," added Mr. Griffen, "anc I lose everything, for I am not insured and I only moved into the shop when il was completed n. few days ago." ORIGIN A MYSTERY. Mr. Ivory, in whose premises the firt apparently started, states that his wife is. at present away from home. This morning he rose at 5.45, and lit the gas stove. After making himself a cup oi tea he went out for a walk, and had got as far as Ranfurly Road when hie attention was called to the fact that a fire was in progress. He hurried back, to find his place-in flames, and both the adjoining shops were alight. How the fire started he is at a loss to understand, for he is convinced that he loft no lights burning. "I've lost everything," added Mr. Ivory. 'T had picked up my overcoat because the morning was chilly, and was undecided whether to put it on. Ultimately I decided to leave it behind, and the result is that lye got nothing left except .what I stand in. There was £600 insurance on the stock and effects but that will not cover my loss."' SOME* HEAVY LOSSES. It is roughly estimated that the damage done by the fire will run into something like £10,000. The block of fout shops owned by Misses L. and E. Davison was insured in the State Fire Insurance office for £1,500. Mr. Ivory'? stock and effects were insured for £60C with the Victoria Insurance Company, and the premises he occupied, owned by Mr. Vincent, were covered in the London and Lancashire for £GOO. Mrs. F. Eslick's stock was insured for £450. and the shop for £400, in the State office, but as it is understood that she recently added £600 worth of new stock her loss will be a heavy one. Mr. Coppins had both shop and stock covered in the State office, but his loss is slight. Miss Cox's stock carried an insurance of £50. but otherwise the occupiers of the various shops destroyed seem to have suffered total loss.