WAR-TIME HOSTEL DESTROYED
Spectacular Blaze At Blenheim
(New Zealand Press Association) BLENHEIM, Nov. 5.
Residents of Blenheim had a spectacular Guy Fawkes fire tonight. As part of the Centennial Week celebrations, a mock battle was being staged by a unit of the Nelson - Marlborough - West Coast Regiment in co-operation with the Royal New Zealand Air Force when fire broke out in the Red Shield hostel close to the centre of the town. The building was unoccupied at the time. In 20 minutes, the hostel, which was built during the war years as a leave centre for troops and airmen then stationed in the province, was practically destroyed. Damage was also done to nextdoor premises occupied by a machinery firm. The fire, which apparently started in the 75ft long hostel building, spread rapidly, and, although the fire brigade quickly brought several leads of hose into action, it was ■ soon little more than a shell. Many hundreds of those returning from the mock battle gathered to watch the fire.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29046, 7 November 1959, Page 15
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167WAR-TIME HOSTEL DESTROYED Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29046, 7 November 1959, Page 15
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