FIRE INQUIRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 148, 25 June 1935, Page 8

FIRE INQUIRY.

MORNINGSIDE MILL.

LOSS BY COMPANY.

DETAILS OF INSURANCES.

Evidence that protests had been made to the Railway Department prior to December 1 last concerning the danger of sparks from railway engines igniting the property of the Morningside Timber Company, Limited, was given in the Magistrate's Court this morning, when the inquiry into the fire which destroyed the main building and plant of_ the company on that date, was continued before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., coroner.

It was also stated at the inquiry,

which is being held at the instigation of the Auckland Metropolitan Fire Board, that the book valuation of the buildings and plant destroyed was in excess of £15,000. The company had received £5023 in insurances.

The taking of evidence and argument by counsel is expected to occupy another day at least. Mr. A. K. North represented the Fire Board, Mr. V. R. Meredith (with him Mr. F. McCarthy) the Railway Department, Mr. J. Stanton the Morningside Timber Company, and Detective Finlay the police. Reginald J. Birch, a workman at the mill,"said he noticed the 1.45 train pass, and a few minutes later heard someone call out that the grass was on fire. Everything after that, including the giving of the alarm, was done as quickly as possible. Engineer's Testimony. John Cochrane, engineer at the mill, who was not aware that the fire had occurred till he read of it in the evening, gave evidence that everything was safe when he left the hopper house shortly after noon. Shavings and sawdust in the boiler had burnt out, and the brickwork about it had been hosed down. The chimney of the boiler was GOft from the ground. He had never noticed any sparks issuing from the chimney, but it was possible for a spark to get away from it. In answer to Mr. Meredith, witness said there were marks of fire in the boiler house. These were above a clock on a partition which faced the furnace. During the hot weather small fires would O'Ocur in the building, on an average of two and three times a week. On several occasions it was the upright that would catch fire, but usually the fire was in a small collection of dust and shavings in the corners. Along the beams one could see a small black trail where the dust had been burning. The dust was from various machines and was much finer than flour. As soon as this smouldering powder reached a shaving or a chip it would burst into flame. It was possible that the dust could be blown out of the hopper house.

Questioned as to the state of the mill yard, witness said that ten days before the fire the grass between the engine room and the path used as a short cut had been cut and left. He had not burnt any of the grass. Mr. Hunt: This inflammable dust that caused the fires, did it cause fires only in the boiler room? Witness: Where there was a great amount of heat. On one occasion we had a fire on the roof of the mill itself. Was it caused in the same sort of way?—l could not say. Witness added that the fires were all above the ground, and he gave an instance of spontaneous combustion in a heap of shavings. Mr. Stanton: Do you suggest that dust caused the fire ? —I could not suggest that anything caused it. You yourself don't know anything aa to the cause of the fire?— No. Many Grass Fires About Mill. Maurice H. Morris, manager of the mill, said the mill was established at Morningside in 1025, and since that time the company had had many fires, mostly in the grass round the timber stacks adjoining the railway line. He attributed the fires to sparks from engines. Because of these fires, fire extinguishers had been placed in the mill and hydrants and hoses along .the road and at the end of the mill. On October 13, 1934, a fire had occurred on a signboard on the top of the mill, and on that occasion witness had written to the Railway Department protesting against what he termed the spark menace and the t carelessness of train drivers. The insurance company "had also been communicated with. Two days after the fire of December 1 witness had seen a train pass, and a trail of Are develop all along the railway line. The fire brigade was called out, as a house was in danger. |

Witness said the book value of the buildings and plant destroyed was £15,000, and the estimated value £12,377. The insurances, including the total insurances on stock, just exceeded £10,000. In reply to Sir. Meredith, witness said the company had received insurance to the value of £5023 as a result of the fire, and there was nothing more to come. John E. Waring, driver fireman at the Mount Albert Fire Brigade station, said the call to the mill fire was received at 2.1 p.m., and it was impossible to save the building when the brigade arrived. Numerous fires in the district had been attributed to sparks from locomotives. During the summer months it was the practice to keep a sharp look-out for fires immediately after a train passed. "The Building Not Alight." Several employees of the Timber Company gave evidence as to the hold that the file had on the mill when their attention was attracted to it. Thomas G. Seon, a milk vendor, who considered that he was first on the scene, said: "I saw the grass burning a little bit in from the end of the mill. The building wae not alight. I raced back and met several men with a hose. One of them was the caretaker. I called to them to ring for the fire brigade as I thought the fire would beat them. . . . I consider that had the brigade been rung for earlier the mill might have been saved." In reply to Mr. Stanton, witness said that the mill caught fire soon after he began to play water 011 the blaze. The flames ran up the wall and then all of a sudden teemed to come out 011 the roof. To Mr. Meredith: Witness said he heard the caretaker tell two men with him not to bustle. Asked by Mr. Hunt if he gathered from the caretaker's remarks that the flames should be given a chance, witnesL said he would not say that. He thought that the caretaker was just trying to keep his men cool. Brown E. J. Morris, secretary to the Timber Company, said that when he left the mill at 1.10 p.m. on December 1 there was no sign of fire. In the evening after' the blaze there was general talk about sparks from trains, and witness himself saw sparks fall from a train that passed. •