FIRE IN HEART OF CITY

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29268, 28 July 1960, Page 14

FIRE IN HEART OF CITY

Buildings Badly Damaged

Fire badly damaged part of the three* storeyed “Sun” office building in Worcester street last night, but as far as could be ascertained there was little damage to tenants’ stock, other than that caused by smoke and water.

When units from the Central Fire Station answered the call a few minutes before 10 p.m. flames and smoke, fanned by a strong, gusty southerly, were rising well above the nearby tall A.M.P. building. Within 10 minutes the firemen, running leads in from every street in the block and up two lanes, had the blaze under control; and when theatre crowds came out about 10.30 p.m., to be hurried away from the scene by a police sergeant with a loudspeaker, there was little to be seen except smoke and a maze of hoses. Firemen fighting the fire inside the building came out for air with dripping uniforms, but the firemen outside were drenched as well, for throughout the operations there was heavy and driving rain.

Although a good save was made by the brigade—six appliances, including the turntable and extension ladder, were used—the Chief Fire Officer (Mr L. R. Osmond), who was in charge of the fire-fighting, fears that the building and the neighbouring two-storeyed Phoenix Insurance Company building are unsafe. City Council building officers were summoned to check the conditions late last night.

When the brigade arrived, the flames were bursting through the roof and the roofing cover was burning fiercely.

A lead was taken through the front door of the “Sun” building—its name comes from the "Sun” newspaper—and the seat of the fire found on the first floor near the head of the stairs and near a Venetian blind laundry service and factory. While leads were snaked in through the building, other leads were taken up Chancery lane and through a narrow alleyway to the rear of the building, and other firemen, working from Oxford terrace, ran leads up Club lane, also to the rear of the building. The extension ladder from the turntable was raised soon after the brigade arrived, and from the top a fireman poured water on to the Phoenix building as a protective measure, and was also able to swing a jet on to the actual fire to assist the efforts of the firefighters below.

Although the fire was quickly brought under control, water was still being poured on to odd flames and flickers after 11.15 p.m., while at the same time firemen were manhandling big bags of sawdust up the stairs to absorb some of the hundreds of gallons of water lying on the floors. A big crack could be seen in the brick wall on the Cathedral square side of the building towards the rear, and in the nextdoor Phoenix building plaster had broken away from some of the walls in the offices of the Australian Trade Commissioner (Mr D. M. Walker). In one of the offices a piece of masonry and plaster from the ceiling had landed in the middle of an office chair. It, and the building on the other side of the “Sun” building were filled with smoke.

Apart from the structural damage, it appeared last night that most of the damage had been confined to soaking of office records and some damage to office furniture. But no accurate assessment could be made late at night as the rooms were still smoke-filled The building, which is owned by the estate of F. W. White, is covered by insurance. Crowd Control

Policemen and traffic officers sealed off the street between the Square and Oxford terrace, and the few sightseers prepared to stand in the rain were kept at each end of the street. Riccarton buses were diverted from their normal stops to the garden plot in the west of the Square. When the Avon Theatre audience poured on to the street policemen kept the crowd moving into the Square, while a sergeant with a portable loudspeaker gave instructions and advice on where the Riccarton buses could be found.

Two theatregoers who had congratulated themselves early in the evening on finding a parking space outside the “Sun” building had an enforced wait for their homeward journey and a car which had been washed by much more than rain. When the fire was in its dying stages, firemen lifted hoses and enabled the driver to back out to Oxford terrace. This car, one other and a motor-cycle were the only vehicles parked in the street, and did not hamper the fire fighting. Several firemen had to come out of the building for spells in the fresh air, and one, Fireman J* B. King, was sent to hospital, but not admitted, with injured ribs. A St John Ambulance brigadesman was on duty at the fire and gave first aid to Fireman King before calling for an ambulance.

Occupants of the building include, on the top floor, C. Meredith Kaye, an importer; Richard Simpson, engraver; the Accommodation Bureau; Alex Mclntosh, importers, and the Commercial Employment Service; on the first floor, Purcell and Wilkinson, public accountants; Scott Jameson and Son, sharebrokers; Parry and Field, solicitors; the Canterbury Skin and Wool Company, Ltd., and Woolston Holdings; E. G. Staples and Company, wool exporters; J. W Jackson and Company, shipping agents; R. P. Lane, a manufacturer; and the Venetian Blind Laundry Service; on the ground floor Leicagraph Studios; and Lonsdales, opticians. There was considerable damage through water on the ground floor, but Mr Norman Wright, principal of the opticians’ firm, paid a tribute to the thoughtful-

ness of the firemen who had put tarpaulins over some of his stock and office fittings. About 30 men who had rented the Cltib Lane Hall for a social evening grabbed their belongings and ran clear of the building. One of them,,Mr J. Childerstone, said that a few minutes before where we saw the reflection of flames on the roof,” he said. 10 p.m. somebody ran into the hall and shouted “fire.”

“We got out into Club lane At 1 a.m. the fire was still licking along some of the rafters in the burnt-out part of the building at the back, facing on to Club lane, where the occupants include Withers Signs Ltd., a dancing school, and on the ground floor a social clubrooms. . Water was still being poured on to the flames and the weight of it had caused parts of the ceiling of the social hall to collapse. The floor there was inches deep in water, and there was a steady downpour from the roof.