BIG FIRE CLAIM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 143, 19 June 1931, Page 3

BIG FIRE CLAIM.

WAIR.OA FARMERS' MEAT WORKS. INSURANCE COMPANY SITED FOR £77,850. CONDITION OF BUILDINGS. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) GISBOHNE.. this day. The heaving was continued in the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon and this morning before Mr. Justice Blair of the action in which the Wairoa Farmers' Co-operative Meat Company o/.id the Bank of New Zealand claim against the New Zealand Insurance Company and the Eagle, Star and British Dominion Insurance Company for £77,850 for dam. age to the Wairoa (Hawke's Bay) freezing works allegedly caused by fire on February 5. Plaintiffs are represented by Messrs. Harold Johnston, K.C., L. T. Burnard and Lloyd Wilson, and tha defendants by Messrs. A. Gray, K.C., H. P. Richmond and A.-H. Johnstone. First Sign of Fire. Constable Tuck, of Wairoa, said the first he saw of the lire was what appeared to be a naked Mare over the loading-out door of "C" store. He thought it was a light placed there to assist loading out. The day after the big earthquake he noticed a certain amount of damage at the works. Cross-examined by Mr. Gray, witness said a good many buildings in Wairoa were damaged by the earthquake. The New Zealand Shipping Company's store —500 yards away from the freezing works—was badly damaged. Twentyfive minutes elapsed between the time he saw what he took to be a flare and the sounding of the alarm. The earthquake on the night of the fire was nothing serious. There were wQrse tremors between the big earthquake and then. Chief Engineer's Evidence. William Marshall, chief engineer, said that before the earthquake the works were in first-class condition. About four years ago repairs were made to "C" store, but the old electric wires on the middle floor were disconnected. The wires were cut outside the biulding. The wiring of the top floor was left untouched. After the earthquake electrical equipment at the works was in firstclass order. The pumps were just as usual. Soon after his arrival at the fire the superintendent of the brigade said the position was hopeless and ordered the shutting off of power for fear of live wires falling and injuring somebody. Cross-examined, witness said that if he had been told after the big earthquake' that power would be off for a week he would have started up the steam plant. The fellmongery end of the buildings was weaker than the slaughterhouse end. The earthquake broke a flange off a condenser pipe. None of the buildings had to be shored up. The boiler could have functioned without the chimney stack. The company had not had much difficulty in the matter of power dislocatio'ns. As long as the steam plant was in order the company had no reason to fear, but it would not be so comfortable. Witness thought that with the steam plant the temperature could have been held indefinitely, but it was impossible to be sure. The difficulty would have been the loss of the smoke stack. The earthquake could not have opened a switch letting the curent into the lower part of "C" store. Witness said he believed the fuses were out for the whole of "C" store.

Little Structural Damage

Trevor Smith, Public Works Department engineer, Wairoa, gave evidence recrardiiic the effect of the earthquake in" the distrct. The prncpal damage was on the opposite side of the river from the freezing works. Examination of the works two hours after the shake revealed little structural damage. diaries P. Drewitt, Wairoa Power Board engineer, stated that the fuses were removed from the "G" 'stores installation four years ago. After the earthquake the electric installation at the freezing works Svas wholly undamaged. After inspecting the beds •of the motors witness authorised restoring the current immediately without further inspection. Wires stretched tightly between buildings were undamaged after the earthquake. When power was restored the day after the .earthquake the freezing machines started •normally and there was absolutely no evidence that they Avere out of alignmAt 10 p.m. the hearing was adjourned,

No "Short" In System. Continuing his evidence this morning Mr. Drewitt stated that the maxigraph instruments he rescued from the fire ehowed by graphs of the electrical energy consumed that the buildings wore "in such condition that they were holding their temperatures. . His Honor: If there were a. short m the system sufficient to cause fire would that be shown? ' ' ~ Witness: If it was arcing short sufficient to create danger of fire it would be recorded on the graph. Witness, continuing, said there was a normal consumption of current before and after the 'quake. There could have been no abnormal ingress of outside

atmosphere, otherwise it would have taken longer to obtain the desired temperature. Cross-examined, witness said the system of wiring had been a poor one, but it was improved before the "quake and would have passed the Underwriters' Association. The wires in the chamber were not in tubes, only the entrance wires, the sole insulation being a cover of rubber and braiding. These wires were fairly tightly stretched. If further stretched they might • diminish in diameter or break. The recording instruments would tell the defects in the system. Witness had not been in C store for four years. He could r;ot speak positively as to the condition of. the wiring after the 'quake.

"Rats Are Unfashionable." Further cross-examined, witness said he could not suggest any source of fire apart from human intervention other than the electrical installation. His Honor: Rats don't like freezing works, I take it. Rats are getting unfashionable as far as fires are concerned. Witness added that fires of electrical origin were most uncommon. They were more likely to occur in .conduit systems, where wires were close together, and could arc. Asked if Waikarcmoana were put out of action could power have been obtained, witness said there were duplicate liiios, and he could not conceive of any contingency made under which consumers on-this.-line could not have been supplied within twelve hours. James Brownlie, sheep farmer, who had meat in' the works, deposed that he inspected the works after the earthquake find came to the conclusion they were quite safe, the damage being slight. John Wilson Kane, superintendent of the Gisborne Fire Brigade, reviewing the. sectional plan of the uninsulated walls of the Wairoa works, stated that fire would not be readily extinguished once it had a good hold. If a hole was burnt through the floor and draught was, getting into the building , the fire would obtain a good hold. To light a fire of that nature a pressure of 1001b, with four to six leads, would be necessary. When the fire was well away there would be nothing gained by going on the roof. His Honor: Assuming that the appli-" ances were inadequate that does not affect the case, because the insurance, company took it and fixed the premium on that. I am more concerned with the degree of efficiency attributable to the earthquake..