FACTORY ABLAZE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 141, 16 June 1936, Page 5

FACTORY ABLAZE.

NEXT TO GASWORKS. CONTAINER WALL BLISTERED. ANXIETY AT WELLINGTON. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Monday. Half an hour of excitement and some anxiety for the residents of Miramar living it: the vicinity of the gasworks were caused to-night by a fire which seriously damaged a concrete blockmaking factory situated beside the gasometer. At the height of the outbreak the flames, driven by a southerly breeze, licked the side of the gas container and. according to spectators who could see by the light of the fire, blistered the paint on its iron walls over an area| of many square yards. The fire occurred in the factory of the Winget Block Company, in Wexford Road, and was first noticed about 8.45, when smoke was seen issuing f«otn several parts of the building. The structure was an old one of corrugated iron 011 wood frames. A resident, Mr. J. Chinnock, whose property faces the main entrance to the factory, telephoned the alarm to th? Central Fire Brigade, which communicated with the Miramar and Constable Street stations. Engines were dispatched from these points and men were also sent from the city station. When the firemen arrived flames were bursting through the roof of the storehouse, which forms an upper storey to the main factory. Dense clouds of smoke poured from the building, enveloping the gasometer, against the sides of which the flames and sparks were playing. The fire, tfhich could be seen from all parts of the district, did extensive damage.