EARLY MORNING BLAZE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 91, 19 April 1927, Page 9

EARLY MORNING BLAZE.

PAPATOETOE SHOPS DESTROYED. XO WATER AVAILABLE. Two shops, in Shirley Road, in the business area of Papatoetoe, were burned to the ground between 3 and 4 o'clock this morning. A billiard saloon at the back was also destroyed. The shops were in a block owned by Messrs. Burnside Bros., and included a tobacconist's shop, occupied by Mr. A. S. Xeilson. The other two buildings were occupied by Mr. W. J. Tucker. The contents were a total loss. The billiard table and fittings were insured for about £300 with the Liverpool and Loudon and Globe Insurance Company, and the buildings were also insured. The amount is not at present available. Slight damage was done to a shop next door, occupied by Messrs. C. Ritchie and Sons, tailors. There was no water supply with which to extinguish the flames, "but successful efforts were made by a bucket brigade to prevent the fire from spreading to a house about ten feet away, and also to other buildings in the block. There are brick walls on either side of the burned shops, and these stopped the fire from destroying the whole block.