BLAZING BENZINE

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 78, 2 April 1928, Page 10

BLAZING BENZINE

FIRE IN OIL STORE. 500,000 GALLONS DESTROYED

LOSS or OVER £30,000. THft.EE FIREMEN INJURED. Tjk a?:"Tft r.v critical CON" DIT ION". ?hr- .t i Auckland has ere >-n => i*n a ft re '.-.it . *:K vr.;.-r-: :r. *'..e oil a fore or .'.feifc-r ■ V/:r,.-.;0r.», Ltd.. T.he =ou*:.err. of FV-aiirnorrr .v.ree-. y«rer.lay af-.e.-- ■ ■-on, •* r«"ri-,l a..vi kerosene worth «- .. k: y wen* up i;i i,rifh<e. The ''liS ig 5 :on ittra.cted peop:e from a.!! parts the -;-7 an'l vj'vi.-i* >?',« and a :'*.er v,.1 ■ ■ • g th>- appearance or entrance* to Eler*-Tla.■■(■■■e.-if.f. r/n (. j-. Day. Jive r«- 1 rr.-tlr.A of 'he a tore an .' ;t* Tjnv^'.* are -* : • I h.'a/ir.g at time of goinsr to nres-. ; o->. the nor' h- * .rc-m."7 or *..e oil tanks region of F.'~e■ ' .'..an j . f'ii .t..i-t.on, t.ie itor a , .v hi>;/. -1.4 a o.v.< h j.l'j.njy constricted on the • j -e*' . *.t .th a floor ift oeiow i /ronnd ;n conformity with the rfjii- j .ations, wa* p: le>l t.o the roof with] "#OO,OOO of petrol awl oil, in cases and. 4"> gallon drums. A few minute*' after 1 .'{<) oVhvk, the Atlantic Union ' '' ; i Company'* watchman noticed that ! ".'ie store wa,* on fire at the western end, ar.-d r-a.,if;'i tho Ci'v Brigade. Early in the cour-.e of the f»re, 1 materia.,i for a. new pipe-Ln© between j the Western wharf and .he Atlantic r.nion Oil Company'* store were destroyed. It is estimated that the pipes, which were stored at the rear of W.natona'a sheds, were worth LYXiO. Water Pumped from fiarboar. One engine was dispatched from the , <ity station on receipt of the alarm and others followed in rapid succession, the t f'araell arid Western District stations 1 e ifh sending reinforcement?. Realising that a ta*k of gigantic proportions con- i fronted them, tin: firemen worked wiWi I « astonishing alacrity, running out two 1 leads of hose from hydrants at the cor- ' >- rier of -Jeilicoe Street.. Two pumping s engines were brought into operation to . pump water from the harbour, 80 yards | a distant. a

Prom the first the firemen had no hop" of getting into VVin*tone's building; it was stacked to the roof with cases, and tho fire already had a big hold. The hrigarlr, therefore, had to deal with the situation from the outaifle. On realising that a strong draught was blowing through the huildinj?, the officials ordered that the doors should l>e heid open to a slight extent only for the pouring in of water with tie hoses.

Magnificent Column of Smoke. Smoke billowed up in a magnificent column to a height of 2000 ft, the base ot the pillar being shot with enormous tongues of flame from 100 ft to 200 ft in height.. The smoke was seen by yachtsmen and others as far away as the Great Harrier Tafantf. At 2 p.m. the spectacle was one of terrifying grandeur. The blazing autumn sun was entirely blotted out, from sorne angle#*. Only those who had witnessed a tremendous bush fire had seen anything like it previously. the hoses looked like Mfi» : from ia child's waterp i 'U&iued' to steam ere they fell into the roaring Inferno. From time to time tjfttfe were report» as drums of oil <-xplod<*{l inside the store, and an instant Inter he flames surmounting the store would burst into a far-flung body of gold shaped like a crown. Whenever this !'' pponed the thousands of spectators v/oiild iturn their faces away, almost i •!voluntarily, l tho heat being intense. MeeJ drums Weighing about half a hun'lredwfiight were flung 100 ft into the nlr. f'<r all the world like pieces of tinfoil. Therrt!fwcasions wh'-n bits of blaz-i-rttr lingered In midair, as thoucrfi suspended by some invisible wire, th* f'-aufjht from the mighty blaze bearing them up.

Half-Naked Toilers. Mercifully there was scarcely a breath of wind when the fire broke out. Had f ltc wjnd been off the sea it is more than tlio partiallv completed oil r' -ro o»f the Atlantic Union Company • 'ilrl hsivfi caught ali«?ht, despite the ' '•i 'iifjft'fl best efforts. This store, on the •="ntheirn side- of Winstone'a building, ■'id pppnrnifcd by only a'few' vards, con•ii'ed a lnr«re number of full oil drums '"-eat anxiety was exnerieneed when It qr~t. obvfous that the blazin l ? benzine - likftfv to snill through cracks in the c- "ithern wall. Workmen weer summoned. «"d. stripped to the waist, tliey toiler) ■for hours in removing the heavy drumto pi aces of safety. From time to crowd canTht flimpses of the halfn«ked men when they came to a doorwar. bathed in sweat, to fill their lunors v i+h sir. The fumes from the blazing were ninsoatincr. So stron" wer» Hi*.-- viu-t People hundreds of yards dis v •-< fnlt ill.

Firemen Stand to Their Posts. Firemen displayed great courage in nicking to'their pouts, and there were t i.avn vixen the assembled thousands could scarce forebear to cheer. The heat w intense, and the fumes stifling, but t:>n h«-J meted r/utn never faltered. Every time an explosion occurred within the! store lives were endangered. The details concerning the injuries suffered by three firemen will be found in another column. Water played on to the flames i s suinpf from the roof turned to steam instantaneously, and orders were issued to confine attention to tl'<- walls. Jets of water sufficiently powerful to knock a man senseless were played oil the brickwork, which was red-hot in places. When a pole bearing live electric wires came crashing down, a number fl" 5 " 1 '" fled for safety. Vivid violet fapafks spurted in all directions when the wives made contact with the j/asv.urkfc raj J way line in the middle of the r<m I. (Ihe abandon*! hoses burned thiimgh they could he retrieved e '*} u) ;!W r Sard's firefloat w.« *» tn , moncsd, Lyt the e.\<Ua water w ucu was prayed on to Vne buUdiug l Ja( j ll( , ■n« olTe;t. He yen W. Wcro were pr^ ~rve<l ti 11 ling after 4 f yk, f or a -few cracks through which th.- flamel -hot with uncanny rapidity. The front at. s „ gre«f junks of inate:iaJ craving into _t,l»e- roadway not many yards distant 4.iom the flaore of the onlookers. , , f W v