WORKSHOPS DAMAGED

Press, Volume C, Issue 29602, 26 August 1961, Page 10

WORKSHOPS DAMAGED

Fire In Gaol In Auckland

(N.Z. Preus Association) AUCKLAND, August 25. Fire swept through workshops of the Auckland prison just after 6 o’clock tonight causing thousands of pounds of damage. Prisoners, all accounted for, were locked in their cells while firemen dealt with the blaze. The tailors’ workshop was gutted and there was damage in the boot-making workshops The prison superintendent (Mr H. V. Haywood) said he had no idea how the fire could have started. A prisoner gave the alarm. He yelled “fire” through the bars of his cell and the word soon spread to the officers. There were no prisoners in the workshops at the time but the general alarm was sounded and w’arders were ready, for the evacuation order. Smoke was carried by a light breeze across to the west and south wings where about 130 prisoners were waiting for the evacuation order. However, it was not necessary and the cells remained locked. Flames shot through the roof of the two-storeyed building and explosions came from the roof. The firemen had the blaze under control in half an hour. Mr Haywood said that the prison was well-drilled for a fire emergency as the brigade visited the institution once' a month. He said the prison could be evacuated in about five minutes.