FACTORY GUTTED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 35, 11 February 1943, Page 6

FACTORY GUTTED

EARLY MORNING FIRE BUILDING MASS OF FLAMES

A fire which had gained a firm hold by the time the fire engines reached it completely gutted the premises of the Buoyant Chair Company, Ltd., Vermont Street, Ponsonby, in the early hours of this morning.

When the brigade arrived soon after 3 a.m. the sky was aglow and the building a mass of flames from end to end. Two machines from the Central Fire Station, one from Western Districts and three detachments of the Emergency Fire Service attended, and the men quickly surrounded the fire, but as it apparently had been burning for a considerable time when the alarm was given at 3.11, the building and contents were destroyed. Stacks of timber close by were also alight when the brigade arrived, but the majority were saved.

It is believed that the fire had been burning for some time, as several persons living near-by stated they had heard noises earlier, as if a car was back-firing or objects were falling down.

The factory building was a twostorey brick and wood structure with a polite roof. No other buildings were damaged. . Interviewed this morning, the manager of the company said he believed the loss was nearly covered by insurance, but he could, not state what it been. Machinery and dry timber stored inside the building comprised the greatest loss, together with a quantity of goods ready for delivery.