POLICE INQUIRY INTO FIRES

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27873, 23 January 1956, Page 7

POLICE INQUIRY INTO FIRES

TWO OUTBREAKS IN ' FACTORY DAMAGE TO MACHINERY (New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 22. Detectives of the Criminal Investigation Branch were called in by the Chief Fire Officer (Mr G. A. Mackenzie) just before midnight on Saturday, when, for the second time in 18 hours, flames raced through a section of a factory owned by Claude Neon Lights (New Zealand), Ltd., in Hobson street, Auckland. An investigation by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (Mr G. Drummond) today appeared to rule out the likelihood of arson, but detectives will continue their inquiries tomorrpw. A crowd of hundreds watched as firemen fought flames which burst through the roof of the two-storey building at 11.15 p.m. yesterday. The earlier blaze, which began at 5.30 a.m., was quelled by firemen after much valuable machinery had been damaged. Mr G. H. Luke, managing director of the firm,.said tonight that he was unable to estimate the loss.

The outbreak last night took the firemen three-quarters of an hour to quell, though they had the flames under control within 15 minutes. Huge volumes of smoke poured from the building, and the flames lit up the sky, but plate-glass windows on the street frontage remained intact. Mr Drummond said tonight that his investigation today indicated that the second outbreak was caused by the fusing of power wires running through the floor joists. The original blaze began on a work-bench.