ROADWAY ABLAZE.
FAULT IN, ELECTRIC CABLE.
THE OFFICE BOY'S JOKE. Black smoke burst out of the roadway at the corner of Shortland Street and Princes Street this morning just after ten o'clock and passers-by were alarmed to see it suddenly followed by tongues of flame which broke out over a space of about three yards square. The trouble was a fault in the distributor cable of the Auckland Electric Power Board, which comes up from the power house through Emily Place park. Intense heat was given off, and the buzz of the fire was reminiscent of Karapiti blowhole down at Taupo. "What I can't understand," said one of a knot of lookers-on," is why it does not blow up." Just then there was a "bang," and the c\irio\is ones jumped clear, while the office boy who had thrown the cracker into the flames went off down Shortland Street, happy for *he rest of the dav.
As a matter of fact an explosion is the last thing likely to happen in such a case. The flames are caused by the formation of an arc between the two cables, and the smoke is caused by the burning of the insulation and the bitumen with which the cable boxes are filled after the cables are laid.
Repairs were promptly taken in hand by the Power Board workmen.
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 260, 2 November 1928, Page 8
Word Count
224ROADWAY ABLAZE. Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 260, 2 November 1928, Page 8
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