Restaurant Gutted By Fire At Kaiapoi

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29068, 3 December 1959, Page 28

Restaurant Gutted By Fire At Kaiapoi

Bat for the efficient work of the Kaiapoi Volunteer Fire * Brigade in the early hours of yesterday morning, a large block of shops in the main street of the town conld well have been destroyed by fire. The Sea Lane restaurant and coffee lounge, in which the fire started, was gutted, and the neighbouring toy shop and bookshop of Mr F. G. Hammer was damaged. A passer-by, Mr C. Murray, first noticed the fire at the back of the restaurant a little before midnight and gave the alarm. In a fairly strong wind, the fire had a firm hold by the time the brigade went into action, and although the men were able to save the neighbouring premises, they were able to do little for the restaurant.

An eye-witness said the flames were leaping above the high front of the two-storeyed restaurant building at one stage. The building was closed when the fire broke out and there was no time to save furniture or equipment. Yesterday, there were only the charred remains of tables and chairs and blackened equipment The fire started at a refrigerator near the back of the building, according to the Police. The Chief Fire Officer (Mr H. McAllister), said it appeared to start near the back of the building in “something electrical.” . Busy Period Expected The proprietor of the restaurant (Mr G. Barry) said the premises were insured but he was not sure of whether the insurance was sufficient to cover the damage. He had only been in the premises for about eight months, had carried out extensive improvements and had been expecting his busiest period of trade over the next few months. Mr Barry said he was very disappointed to have his business taken away just when it was reaching its best but praised the fire brigade for its work. “They did not save much of mine but they saved the rest of Kaiapoi. They did a magnificent job,” he said. . The work of the brigade in confining the .fire mainly to the restaurant was made easier by two brick walls which separated this building from each neighbouring shop. The flames crept around the rear of the dividing wall and into the adjacent book shop, considerably damaging the library at the back of this building. 5000 Library Books Much more damage was done to the stock of this shop by smoke, heat and water, than by

the flames. Mr Hammer said the 5000 library books were a “write-off.” Mr Hammer said he had insurance coverage, but not to the extent of the damage, which he estimated at several hundred pounds. On the other side of the restaurant the only damage done to the chemist shop of Messrs J. D. McDougall and R. H. Reid was a broken window and a scorched veranda. At the time of the fire about 30 persons cleared goods from the shop. This took about 10 minutes, but the replacing of the stock on the shelves was a considerably longer job. Persons from Kaiapoi were still helping with this late yesterday morning.