FURNITURE SHOP BURNED.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 66, 17 March 1916, Page 2

FURNITURE SHOP BURNED.

FIRE AT NEWMARKET. MUCH DAMAGE TO STOCK. STRANGE CAUSE OF OUTBREAK A great deal of damage was done by an outbreak or fire this morning in a shop and furniture factory in Broadway, Newmarket, occupied by F. Taylor, and Co. The upper hoor of the building, which is of brick, suffered the most, and , between £500 and £600 worth of furni- | ture stored there was badly damaged by fire, smoke, and water. ■ The outbreak occurred in a curious way. One of the firm's three employees i wad repairing a couch in a lean-to at. I the back oi the building when his hamj iner struck a wax match which had worked its way between the upholstery of the back and seat of the couch. The match ignited, and dropping to the floor, | set ire to a pile of loose flax fibre, whic'.i j quickly made a big blaze. The lean-to j v.as used as an upholstering room, and ! a quantity of flax was storeii there. This j also caught fire, and the workmen had ■ juat time to get outside into safety. M.\ i Taylor made an attempt to put out the | I biaze with a patent extinguisher of the I squirt type, but the machine produced no effect whatever. The Newmarket Fire Brigade quickly arrived, and at- i tacbed a couple of leads of hoee to the | main in Osborne Street. This, unfortu- I nately, proved to be b'ocked, and about : ten minutes were occupied in getting it | clear. Meanwhile a lead of hose was j run in irom Broad-way, but not before the fire had made its way from the leanto through the ceiling of the next room, and into a store-room upstairs, where it got amongst a large quantity of kapoi. As soon as the water wae available the j names were quickly put out. but not before the whole interior of the building had been drenched with water. But :or the blockage in the the brigade would probably have been able to confine the outbreak to the lean-to. The building, which is owned by the Osborne Estate, is part of a large brick block. Fortunately there is a brick wall on either side of Taylor and Co.'s premises, so that none of the adjoining shops suffered any damage: A Email quantity of furniture was got out on to the footpath, and so escaped damage, but the greater part of the stock, together with the plant and took, had to be left where it was. Both the building and its contents were insured, but particulars of the policies were not obtainable to-day. j