EXPLOSION IN FLAT

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21512, 29 June 1935, Page 22

EXPLOSION IN FLAT

HOME OF Mil JUSTICE XOK'FHCROFT BA'I'FIHOOM \\ RECKi'ii) 'A fli'N CfSI'KSiX HUHSTS I The bur. tin;; of hot water cis-K-rn . arlv yr. t<ia;.:y rnr-;auh", die' considerabie daiaaee Io Ihe ijaiiirooin and adji.initi,'. rooms n. Ih«' Hat of Mr Ju;:licc Nortlicroi't in Albany Courtr, JTfi ; i'apanui mad. The oeci.-parits of all tiie ;]ata in ti.e huildin;.; rieeived a! :a.'\'erc jolting, but w> unn was hurt, j r Phe exidosioii left V( !'y little intact in tiie bathroom in Mr Jnxlico N'orthereM's llal, and also damayed a bedvoom near 'i:e bath.room, hlowin". out ;be vAndowa and bc«pt ttcrinc. thi-. wall? with piaster, besides pushing in; the van 11 of the bathroom belonr,»ng to; the ti?;l .'i.ijoinhij' Mr .Juatice Korth- • croft';. Ti'e top of tin.- fistorn which j exploded blew c-flb aiul after s.mnt:!'.-! in,a a hole in the wood and iron root | ended by becorninr; auaiwltd in the! hanf.'.inc debris el' the eeilinr/. Other! nart- of the ..i.'torn w; re forced down-, wards by the explosion and went j through the batliroosn floor. j The fioorho: rnr, were completely ymaihcd, and only the top of tincylb.'i: a- of the; cistei'n vsa.- visible aVio\e the top of the wrecked floor. The door of the lv thI'oorn. which was open when the explosion e eurred, was tori from it/ hinaes. and tiie upper pauelr of it V.a.ae < . mpletely blown away. Tiie fc.ur walls in t'.v bathroom wera ; ioi'ceii ouiwoid:; and plat'trr and lailrs strewed the floor. The ajras of the bithroom door was blown out and the jrame of the window followed suit, fiyhu; some yards to crash against the back door of another flat. Glass and plaster were ftrewn in the? yard at the re")" of the fiat for a distance of 15 vard'- from where the explosion occurred. One wall of the bathroom ! was £0 far forced cut that there was a gap ef two feet between _ where it ended and Its original position. The whole of the roof of the damaged flat was lifted, and u large crack was evident after the explosion in the roughcast exterior of the flat, which is an addition to the main part of the buildirij;. The building is a sinßle : sstorey one, in rough-cart, and Mr Justice arid Mr; Northcroft lave only been in residence there for a month since Mr Justice Northcroft's appointment as resident judge in Christchurch. The explosion was lie'l'd from some distanc" 1 in the neighbourhood, and caused much concern for Ihe safety of those living in the Hat. Statement on Cause A statement on the explosion was issued yesterday afternoon by the Municipal Electricity Department.. The .statement read:; as follows: I "In its published recommendations regarding witcr heat inf.; installations tiie Municipal Electricity Department strongly recommends, though it has no power to enforce, the lagging ol all vent pipes projecting through a roof from a hot-water cylinder. If a vent pipe becomes frozen and thu blocked, there will be danger irrespective of what particular form of heating is employed. The vent pipe is very definitely the primary safety provision in connexion with i ny water heating system. The unfortunate accident demonstrates the necessity of lagging this pipe to prevent it being blocked by ice on a frosty morning. "In this case, also, an unfortunate combination of circumstances occurred. The average installation comprises a 500 to 1000-wrtt element in a 20 or 25 gallon cylinder. In this case, at the request of the owner, in order to give a better supply of hot water, a local electrician replaced the I original element with one of 1500 watts capacity, in a cylinder of only normal i capacity. This combination would be perfectly safe and practicable if it I were thermostatically controlled, that ' is to say, if it were equipped with a thermostat which witched off the elci ment when the water was hot, and ' switched it on again when the tem- ' perature of the water fell. Enquiries indicrte that this thermostat was to ; have been installed, but was not yet provided. "It therefore riems evident that the two primary safeguards. th° vent pipe and the thermostat, were inoperative This particular installation is known to have boiled on a previous occasion, so thrt under normal circumstances it was perfectly safe. The severe frost of this morning appears to have blocked both the vent pipp and, presumably, in seme portion of its length, the supply pipe, which at J one spot runs untagged exceedingly close to an iron roof."