BODIES FOUND ON MERCERY FLOOR

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25445, 17 March 1948, Page 6

BODIES FOUND ON MERCERY FLOOR

The theory that bodies found in the mercery department had not fallen 'from upper floors but were those of persons who had died at the entrance to the shop at the corner of Colombo and Cashel streets was advanced by Fourth Officer A. S. Shah in his crossexamination by Mr Hutchison. He was called primarily to give evidence on the part of brigadesmem in the rescue of Mr Kenneth Ballantyne from the top floor of Pratt’s building.. Officer Shah, who gave his total experience as a fireman as 32 years, said he was left in charge of the station when Officer Biirrows left on a machine. At 3.58, he saw Officer Shield come in on his bicycle.. He went to the door and saw a cloud of smoke. He immediately ordered the ladder to the fire, the location of which he did not know. The bells rang again and he went to his engine and was told to proceed to Ballantyne’s. No. 6 engine and the combination unit were not manned, as the men were not available. He heard men at 3.58 say the fire- was in Ballantyne’s cellar and he gave orders for two more cylinders for Roberts respirators to be placed on his motor. The extension ladder left a minute before the bells rang.

As seen from the corner of Lichfield and Colombo streets,, the whole frontage of Ballantyne’s was on fire. He had a standpipe put in outside the Grand Hotel and the. two leads boosted through the pump. He saw a man at the window in Pratt’s building. He ran up an ajax ladder and was followed by Officer Burrows, Fireman Dobson, and a civilian. He had to remove the civilian from the next ladder as he was caning out, and went up. The man climbed out of the window, sat on the ledge, and then climbed on to the ladder and came down. About 45 seconds after Mr Ballantyne descended, the power lines fell and the crowd scattered in all directions. He directed leads generally in Cashel street after the rescue.

The only person I saw at the windows at any time was Mr Ballantyne,” said Officer Shah.

He knew of no second telephone ting having been put through to the M.E.D., Officer Shah told Mr Thomas. To Mr Hutchison: It was competent for the duty officer to decide which appliances should be sent to a fire. Position of Bodies “The position of those bodies of persons who perished inside the entrance to the mercery department on the ground floor made it obvious to me that they could not have come down from the first floor,” said Officer Shah. “The flooring above was not completely burned. Later, I ordered two splicing ladders which were put up, and several other bodies were on the floor above, right above the bodies on the ground floor facing a southerly direction as if they had been knocked over. The police came m after we had cooled the place down.”

Mr Gloyer: Have you any theory on the difficulty of rescuing people from the building?—l did not think the jumping sheet could be used on

the veranda because of its shape and because people could not have jumped from the windows and cleared the power lines to land into the net on the street.

No time would be lost in dispatching a machine from the station if a man was late in reaching the machine, as a man would be transferred from another machine, said Officer Shah, The “flying squad’’ took for a turnout half a minute in daytime and one minute at night.

“Building was Gone” Mr Glover: What was your impression when you amved at Ballantyne’s?—That the building had gone. If the brigade had .received an earlier call—the evidence is that the call was delayed—would there have been a considerably greater chance of saving the building?—lf the brigade had been called when the smoke was first noticed, there may have been a possibility of saving the building. Do you hold the opinion, that the building was doomed before the brigade arrived there?—Yes, by the way the fire spread. Mr Young: When you instructed the electric ladder to go to the fire, did you have any authority?—lt is* the usual duty of the duty officer; but I was the senior officer on the station. The duty officer was sending out service messages. But you knew it was a cellar fire?— I though it was beyond a cellar fire, as the smoke was rising. Officer Thompson says he received a call from a woman that dense smoke was coming from Ballantyne’s cellar, and that he turned out the ladder. Are you quite sure that you were the one who instructed the ladder to go out. not Mr Thompson?—Yes. Burning of First Floor Questioned on his view that persons perished in the mercery department, Officer Shah said a portion of the floor above the entrance was not burned through, but the remainder of the floor back to Goodman’s building was burned through. Mr Young; Is it not possible that those people perished on the second floor, and the floor collapsed, and you found them in that position on the ground level?—Not in the -position I found them. They were more or less lying on each other, as if you laid sticks.

All the south floor had disappeared? —Yes.

Could not the bodies have been precipitated to the lower floor by the floor collapsing?—Yes. But the bodies would have been in a haphazard manner. t It was the way they were lying, rather than the position, on the ground floor which made you think they died there?—Yes. I drew the attention of two others to the position at the time

Is it your view that jumping sheets could be used on'a flat veranda?—Yes, if they are wide enough.

Have you ever tried to 'use a jumpin o sheet on a city building?—No. The brigade does not practise the use of jumping sheets on verandas?— No. The training is off the tower on to the ground.