GARAGE BURNED OUT.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 73, 26 March 1923, Page 5

GARAGE BURNED OUT.

OVER SIXTY MOTOR CARS LOST

MOSTLY PRIVATELY OWNED.

FIRE AT GILLETT MOTORS LTD.

All that remains of over £30,000 worth of motor cars stored in Gillet Motors Ltd.*s big garage, Albert Street, is a row of charred remains and a few cart-loads of debris. Fire swept the garage in the early hours of this morning, and seldom has "such a clean sweep been made of the inside of any building. The most surprising feature of the blaze was the suddenness with which it 'bui_t into maximum fury from invisibility. By one of those odd coincidences that sometimes happen when a big calamity is toward, the City Fire Brigade was just returning from another call when the alarm came from the vicinity of the garage. Going to anstver this first call the brigade went down Grey Street, and any sign of fire at the garage would be sure to be noticed by anyone coming down the street mentioned. The superintendent, Mr. W. L. Wilson, says the brigade never saw even a suspicion of anything. When returning to the station he looked back to see the time by the town clock, nnd even then there waa no sign of anything.

j STARTLTNGLY SUDDEN*. I As the machine got 'back _to the 'station from this first call—it was a i fuse box near the Wavcrley Hotel—the I alarm hell rang, and a call came from the fire alarm at the corner of Albert 'and Cook Streets. Turning round at i once the machine was on the scene witliin thirty seconds, and the garage, which is on the site of the old fresh water baths in Albert Street, seemed to be ■belching Game from every window on the middle floor; there are two floors on the Albert Street front and three on the Market Square front. It is evident from an inspection of the shell of the building that the fire started about the middle of the middle storey, where the spare parts, etc., were evidently stored. Nearly all the motor cars were barracked on the top floor (reached by a ramp from Albert Street), and once the first benzine tank exploded the rapid spread of the fire would be self-evident. From time to time after the brigade arrived there were explosions, and within a very short while the whole of the inside of the two top storeys was a seething mass of flame. Oil and the other inflammable inevitables connecten with a motor garage helped, and against such fuel water could only prevail by preponderance of weight. The brigade quickly got leads of hose at work from both Albert Street and Market Square, and by literally flooding the place they swamped the fire. Excepting on the middle floor there are no partitions—and even on the middle floor they are only of the usual office typeso the fire had nothing to stop it once it started among the private motors that filled the top floor. So rapid was the spread of the blaze on this floor that the caretaker who sleeps on the premises only got out in the nick of time. A MYSTERY. How the fire started is a mystery. Except the top floor garage for privatelyowned cars (which is open day and night), the rest of the premises was shut up at noon on Saturday The opinion of the experts is that the fire started in this shut-up part, and there had been nobody there for over forty Of the 62 cars in the building, about 50 of them were privately owned, the others being the property of Gillett Motors, Limited. There were some highpriced cars, including the b lg Hudson that took part in tie recent racing at Muriwai Beach, Mr. C. Court s Sidley Deasey, worth about £1500, Mr. Ernest Davis' Stuz, of about the same value, and Mr. Ben. Goldwater's Apperson, worth some £000. There were several taxi-cars in addition to a large assortment of other privately-owned cars of all makes. It is impossible to ascertain the insurances on the majority of these cars, but it is understood that in i-ost of the cases the owners will be losers.

OI LUC CIIBCO i>*«- v - while several of the cars were not covered by insurance at all. The building was a substantial oricK affair, and not long ago was very elaborately fitted up, particularly the showroom, where the parquetry floor and other fittings were something out of the ordinary The insurance on the building is £16 127, and as far as can be judged the shell of the building is not damaged, and the work of reinstating will be confined to the two wooden floors and the internal fittings. The ground floor is practically uninjured, and another gar- ' a<re and the business offices on the north ! end of the block are also untouched. The policy on the building is held by the New Zealand Insurance Company. The contents of the building—that is apart from the cars in the top floor garage for j private cars —were covered by insurance policies in the Atlas, the United, and the Ocean offices, totallinfi £14,527. I imong the contents destroyed was a large quantity of spare parts, which the firm lis compelled to carry in order to keep I faith with the purchasers of the cars for I which it is agent. The firm intends to set about reinstating the buildng without delay, and already the contractors have made an inspection.