FACTORY AFIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 193, 17 August 1939, Page 6

FACTORY AFIRE.

£50,000 DAMAGE.

WORKERS HAD TO RUN.

SPECTACULAR BLAZE.

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.)

CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday.

Caused by the igniting of paint materials, a lire this evening destroyed the electrical appliance factory of H. C. Urlwin, Limited, at the corner of Waltham Road and Austin Street. Although four leads of hose were in use eight minutes after the alarm was given, the fire was then in full control and in two hburs had burned out the big factory. The damage is estimated at nearly £50,000.

Approximately 270 employees will be affected by the destruction of the factory, because at least a year will be needed in which to obtain the delivery of heavy plant.

Twenty-one workers had to rush from the building when, within 30 seconds of smoke being seen, flames «hot from the paintshop to the centre of the factory.

For more than ail hour the blaze was a spectacular one, great masses of flame shooting high above rolling clouds of black smoke. The reflection from the fire was visible from Lyttelton and the illumination was so bright that residents at the foot of Cashmere Hills were able to read without difficulty. A single storey unit, the factory was opened ill April, 1937. The front portion, of concrete, containing the office and showroom escaped destruction, but the big factory section of light construction was destroyed. Explosion of Gases.

Two young men were working in the •praying room, in which 100 gallons of highly inflammable material were stored, when one noticed smoke coming in through a fan vent from the outside of the building. He went out to investi-. gate, but before he was able to return, the smoke belched out of the room into the factory, where 17 men were working at machines, and two girls were packing. A general alarm was sounded and an employee telephoned the city fire brigade.

From the beginning the fire brigade was faced with an arduous task in checking the blaze, but all chances of even saving part of the building disappeared when an explosion from gases under the roof caused the ceiling and walls at the rear of the factory to crash in.

One of the most successful businesses in Christchurch, and noted for its rapid progress, the factory had been working overtime for many months. Although most of the stock is stored in the city, the loss of business will be severe, and many thousands of pounds' worth of Christmas orders cannot now be fulfilled The expansion of the factory to double its present size was actually in progress, the contractors, J. W. Beanland and Sons having been working for six weeks.

The employees had to rush from the building. A young man was trapped in one section, but broke a window and escaped. None of the employees was harmed, but a girl who was the last to leave appeared to be affected by shock and smoke fumes.

Until an in«pection is made in daylight the full extent of the loss cannot be estimated. Some of the machinery and stores will probably be salvaged, but many thousands of pounds' worth of valuable plant was destroyed. Buildings, plant and stock were valued to-night by Mr. Urlwin as follows: — Building, approximately £5000; plant, £40,000; stock, between £5000 and £6000. The property and stock were insured with an English office.