KAIAPOI COMPANY'S FIRE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12966, 20 November 1907, Page 8

KAIAPOI COMPANY'S FIRE.

ENQUIRY BY THE CHJKIeSTCHritI'.i EIRE BOARD. An enquiiy concerning the tire tiiat occurred at the Kaiapoi \S'oollcu Company's warehouse on Wednesday morning last was held by the Ckristchurcii Fire Board last night. Tne Chairman, Mr J. I>. Hall, read a report furnish*:" to him by Suptr--11. tendon t Smith, iv which it was t-tat.-d that 1 hi* alarm was given a: 4..J3 a.m. Ho said that statement-*, had he. n made t<> tho effect that tho Ci'tjiir .-:ri'i.t station «.is notified at least ten minute, iK'l'of..* tliai lime. Tii<»«e statcm-. lit.- came irom a »oust a hie vim ~a« tlif liri' liotu Cook an.l iln.s- s corner, ii .-id lioin a gentleman wiio iuard v,.. I,;eh::'dd stloet bell atv. i-titv imiiun-.s to ■*). Mr Hall then • ii.'/ui''.; v. hat had happened that i.v.rnii.g st r. i■ I- i lie fir*>t alarm wu.*> .; \,.,> i,; ilj.. I, j. afield street station. I,i n ply m a question he said that lie ii.i'l j.-'.-.ve.i ao rei»<-,rt from the lil--j.< ■' l'T ot Police. Mi C. J. Coo|K*r said he considered :i:c li.jard should get an official report p.-mi th<. police as to the reason wuy Hi., tire had not been detected by tne ri.n.i abb*, on their beats. .-.ipeiinteiideiit Smith, who was .;ii!..| to itive evi'.'ente, said he got i!;. tune oi tho tire from tho Clock 'In-, er. Uo had no automatic clooK n! the .station. The caretaker took i.ii' time as ten minutes to live. About ..•i to tiO seconds elapsed between the i urn. the alarm was given and tho r in., dm brigade turned out. It was a very smart Pirn out. The alarm was given" at Lichfield street by a newspaper runner to a fireman named .luri.ss, at about a quarter to rive .I miss was in the net of coming down staiis when the alarm went oft. Tho caretaker's wile advised Chester street station that the- alarm was given from llox 7. Tiie Chester street brigado did not turn out for Box 7 unless they were niKructed I nun Lichfield street [• was not till tlie fire engine reached the Clock Tower that he Raw whore th.. hie una, and lie then sent a man along to Chester street. Ik-fore he left the station he asked a constable to telephone to the St. Albans and Sydenham brigades. Foreman Blake, oi the Chester street station, rang up ti know whore tho firo was, and he was told to turn out. The Chester street steamer reached th© White Hart tank on tho jtroke of five. Tho Lichfield street bell did not go at L'O minutes to 5, although it might have sounded o minutes later. Ho believed that if tho brigade had been notified 15 or 20 minutes earlier it might have oxtinguished the fire. His opinion was that the tiro started below and worked up through the well in the building, and thou suddenly burst out from the top. He nntl no positive information us to how the fire started, but if it had storied higher up the explosion of flumes nnd through the windows would havo occurred earlier, and tho firo would have boon noticed sooner. He considered tha* an automatic clonk should be provided ait each station to record the time at which each alarm is given. He did not think a look-out tower would be of rniujoh value, for a lire -would not be seen until it had broken out. An automatic alarm inside the buildiioi'g would have been the best method of defeating the firo promptly. Up. to within ten minutes of the alarm there would have been really nothing to see of tiho fire. The building was a large open one with the floors connected by a well. Some of the buildings going up now were really death traps. He had inspected v building of tho sort An High street that day, and he believed the brigade would have serious difficulty in dealing with a firo in that building. To Mr Cooper: Hie did nob tJiinlk an alarm was given from Chester street before the one sounded at Lichfield street. It would be handy iif tQie brigades oould be .provided wiith pocket telephones for the puttrJoßo of ringing up the exchange promptly from any part of the city where tiho engines might be. There was a full muster of 'men at tlhe fire that morning. It might be better to have a man permanently on. duty at the Lichfield street station. A.certain, number of telephone subscribers wwo willing to allow the members of the brigade or others to use their instrumentts in tlie ovent of a fire in the locality. j Foreman Juriss, of tihe Lichfield street station, stabed that tho paper runner hod aroused him and tlie other inem'bors of the brigade on the morning of the fire, but ho oould not say what the oxwot time was. When, the engine reached tihe Clock Tower lie noticed tlwvt the time, according to the east faoe, was about ten minaites to five. The alarm would havo been given about a minute and a half before, for the brigade tunned out very promptly. The bell wan rung about thirty seconds after tho ala.rm was given. He considered that an automatic clock should .be pl'aoed in the station. If thero had been an nlarm system in the building the fire would have beon detected in the first room, and an enormous amount of property would have been saved. Foreman Blake, who was in chairge of the Chester street station on tlie morning of the fire, said that tho first alarm he received was from the caretaker of the Lichfield street station, who told him that an ala.rm was given ! from No. 7 box. He then partly dressed and wewt downstairs, when he saw n constable, to whom he said that the. Chester street brigade did not turn out to No. 7 box without specie! instrtiotions. He saw tho smoke, and then rang up Lichfield street again, ] and was told th-ait the lire was opposite tho station. ■ The Chester street Im.ll was then sounded, and tho fotigade turned out as the man from Lichfield street was approaching. He cstimatI ed that the brigade turned out nt 4.00 ! a.m. There was no brigade clock at the station. Tho Chester street steamer turned out within seventy seconds from the time when the big bell went. If it had not been tor the standing instruct ions the brigade would have turned out immediately. Since the instruct ions had been issued not to turn out to alarms from certain box<«s. the Kaiapoi fire was the first that had oeoumd where a delay mi turning out was caused through complying with the instruction.*. The Brigade could havo cot away a tout five minutes earlier, but that would havo made no difference in the case ot the Kaiapoi tire. AH big buildings should be fitted with s-une "fire alarm system: that would enable a lire to be checked at the outset. He did not think that a watchtoner uould piove of much service. Foreman .Millingtou, of tlie Chester strict Station, said that he heard the l.iehtield street bell .shortly utter ten | minute*, to o. He Lvko.l out and saw the smoke, and tlie big; bell na> run;; ,-hcirtlv atterwards. Ah-ntt five miuu«es elai».ed from the time he got up to the lime when the first engine got away. Engineer Davis, of the Lichtiel . street Brigade, said that lie was awakened by tne ringing of the alarm be! at the station. Mrs Davis looked a: tiie clock as he left the station, ami it was then ten minutes to fire. Mr 'luvis was the only person who too', the times of alarms, but a proper an omatie clock should 1 c provided. MrDavis, on receiving instructions from the Superintendent, ndvised the Che;t er street Brigade as to whether th. v

.' ero to turn out when alarms wer .iv.Mi from certain boxes, and on th "..orning ot tho Kaiapoi fire she exer .-.yd her discretion and gave institutions herselt. It would be much bet■r to havo a man left at tho statio:. uitcr the Brigade had left for a fire He M:ev.*d the alarm would have bee: :.v<-ivy| thr.-e hours earlier if a pro -i.-r aiarm system had !>een installed liiroUgi:;-'::t t'tie Kaiapoi building. Air (;:iersoii said he did not think auv further evidence was necessary. it "soerr.fd clear that the Brijadt* had turned out promptly. The Chairman said that the statements m.ide by the con-stables to th-. Inductor or Police might l>e procured. but he did not think '...at they would throw any further iight on the matter. It seenir.i clear that automatic . locks should be provided at each station, and there was no doubt that the installation of fire alarm systems in big warehou.«*s would cause outbreak.* to' be drifted promptly. Mr IliL a bridge pon.si.iered that better means should be provided for enabling the Brigade at !» file to communicate with the stations, and he favoured the portable telephone siigg»tion. Mr (Jrierson said that it had ben s'kiivh that the alarms had been attended t<> promptly at each station. .Mr I.u.sbridge said that the enquiry had also shown the need for the installation of automatic alarm .systems in big promise - *. .Mr Aili-011 said that the enquiry had n!-o shown the necessity of having the various stations automatically connected «itii one another, so that the men could be on the alert in case of neoc-isitv. Tho Chairman said that if the Board came to the conclusion that each Brigade had turned out promptly, thou the other matter*, should bo referred to the Staff and Plant Committee. lir Cooper then moved: "That the Board is of opinion that a prompt and efficient turn-out on the part of both Brigades was made on the morning of tho Kaiapoi Company's fire, and that after due enquiry it finds that thero is no blame attachable to the Brigades." The motion was seconded by Mr Busbridge, and carried, and it was resolved to refer the suggestions made to the Plant and Staff Committee'