£6000 DAMAGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 301, 21 December 1939, Page 9

£6000 DAMAGE.

MILL DESTROYED.

MOUNT EDEN BLAZE.

KAURI COMPANY'S PLANT.

VALUABLE PROPERTY SAVED.

Five engines and 50 firemen fought a fire wlii.h totally destroyed the dressing and rccutting in ill of tho Kauri Timber Corn puny at Mount Eden in the rnriy hours of this morning. The blaze wns a spectacular one, but the methods ndopte-I by tho brigades resulted in (i ml»cr v.iluod at £12,000 being saved. Tho timber destroyed was 40,000 ft, valued at £1000, the bulk of which was shirked inside or in tho vicinity of the mill building. The total damage was est ima ted at £0000.

The fact that there was no wind when the (ire was discovered at 3.30 a.m. prevented largc-scaic loss. Immediately adjoining the mill is the shot lower of the Colonial Ammunition Company and tho timber kiln of Henderson and Pollard, whore there are stacked massive piles of dried timber. At one stage the intense heat caused portion of the timber to ignite, but it was quickly controlled with slight damage. The pa ntwork on tho shot tower wax* scorched. Six Leads Run Out. Two machines from the Central Station, and one each from Mount Eden, Mount Albert nnd Remuora answered the alarm, to find the mill an inferno. Acccss was difficult by virtue of the fact that the blazing building was surrounded by large masses of inflammable material. However, six leads were run out from the four surrounding streets in the block and within half an hour the brigades had the upper hand. Tho building and plajit. were doomed, but the stocked timber in the yard, much of «hich was for flovernment contracts, wan constantly threatened, and the firemen laboured throughout the night to koefi the blaze localised.

Tho ruins were still smoking this morning and it was not anticipated that tho fire would be entirely extinguished for another 24 hours. Water was still being played cri smouldering heaps of timber and hot iron, while the twisted framework of three planing machine, a recent handsaw and saw benches presented a scene of desolation. The plant was vnlned at £3000 and the building at .£2OOO.

At the peak of the blaze the heat was intense and firemen could not approach nearer than 50ft. Some of the stacks of rimu in the yard were scorched 'by heat, nnd only the constant playing of water checked heavy damage. The boiler house, used as an incinerator for shavings and sawdust, was not damaged. A suggestion that the fire may have been caused by a spark from the boiler is discounted by tho fact that the furnace is flooded with three inches of water «ach night. The cause of the outbreak is unknown.

Tho mill has been in the possession of the Kauri Timber Company for about .55 years, being operated by a small company prior to that. The managingsecretary, Mr. J. J. Jackson, to-day paid a tribute to the magnificent save by the brigades. He said that there were 15 men employed at the mill, but that it would be possible to place them in other work until tho mill was reconstructed.

The chief loss, he said, would be the disorganisation and the difficulty in securing new plant. It wm fortunate that the large stacks of seasoned rimu in the yard, which were valued at 1.6fween £10,000 and £12,000, had beep saved, as much as this was required lor Government jobs.

During the blaze Fireman H. Limn suffered a severely sprained ankle, but following X-ray .treatment at the hospital, his condition is not serious.

Tlie losses were covered by insurances of £3300 held by the New Zealand Insurance Company.