ALBERT STREET BLAZE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 54, 5 March 1926, Page 5

ALBERT STREET BLAZE.

OUTBREAK IN FACTORY. HEAVY DAMAGE CAUSED. BLUEJACKETS' GOOD WORK. A spectacular blaze took place in the city last night, as a result of which the premises occupied by the Reliance Battery Manufacturing Company, at 96, Albert Street, were badly damaged, and a large quantity of stock, including over 100 privately owned batteries, was destroyed. The fire was discovered at about seven o'clock by drivers of the Diamond Taxi Service who, after giving the alarm, set about getting their own cars away from the immediate vicinity of the outbreak. The fire had a good hold when it was discovered, and as the stocks included about 1000 rubber battery containers, 1500 rubber battery jars and 500 wooden battery boxes, the interior of the building was soon a raging inferno. On arrival, the fire brigade attacked the fire from Theatre Lane at the rear, while a party of bluejackets from H.M.s. Dio-mede, effected an entrance by the front door, and with the assistance of some civilians, quickly removed a Ford ton truck and a quantity of benzine to less dangerous quarters. The brigade soon had the outbreak in band, and the fire was extinguished in a comparatively short time. The building, which was formerly occupied by the Farmers Machinery Exchange, had. only been taken over by the present occupiers since Christmas. It was a single storey brick building, owned by Mr. D. R. Marriott, of Ponsonby. "The cause of the outbreak is a mystery, as everything was apparently all right at six o'clock, an hour before the fire was discovered. The building warinsured with the New Zealand Insurance Company for £600, hut the insurances on the stock, which, it is understood, are held by the Victoria Company, were not ascertainable to-day. It is considered that the fire will result in a heavy loss to the occupiers.