Questions Asked On Fire At School

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31782, 12 September 1968, Page 1

Questions Asked On Fire At School

The fire in the Quinns Road School was the subject of two objections to the Christchurch Metropolitan Fire Board last evening.

The Canterbury and Westland Electrical Contractors’ Association objected to newspaper reports that the cause of the fire was an electrical fault. Mr D. B. Dallas, the District Commissioner of Works, commenting on reported remarks at the last board meeting, said the ministry was not responsible for all schools and had no authority to interfere with education boards' activities. To the electrical contractor, Mr L. R. Osmond, the Chief Fire Officer, said no brigade officer gave any information to, the newspapers that the fire was a result of an electrical fault. “The officers have formed an opinion which places the cause far removed from any newspaper reports,” he said. The only time officers gave their opinion on the cause of a fire was when they appeared on subpoena in a Court action, Mr Osmond added. MINISTRY ROLE

Mr Dallas wrote that education boards had their own technical staffs and the Min-

istry of Works had no power to interfere.

The ministry was working to standards as high as most local authorities used, and higher than some, he said. Mr T. H. Boyle: We are getting under some skins, aren’t we?

Buildings used for educational purposes should be brought up to the standards of today, Mr Boyle said. Those built in 1953 or 1954 might have complied with the standards then, but perhaps did not do so today. They should be up-dated. Was Mr Dallas sure that the buildings which the ministry had designed were still being used for the purpose for which they were designed? Mr Boyle asked. It eould be that a building designed as a “light hazard” was now used for chemistry lessons.

Did the Chief Fire Officer have power to authorise a plan, or could he only make recommendations? he asked.

When Mr Boyle proceeded to discuss fire precautions in apartment houses, Mr W. R. Campbell, the chairman, said he was out of order. “However, I can say that unfortunately there are one or two landlords without a conscience,” Mr Campbell said. “The Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Seath) has been asked to introduce legislation to license apartment houses, and has agreed to do so.” Mr N. G. Pickering said no-one could tell him that

with the millions of dollars spent on education, the Ministry of Works did not have some say on education buildings. Mr Campbell said that about three years ago the ministry had offered to discuss any schools thought to be unsafe. “NO POWER”

Mr Osmond said he would like board members and the public to know that the Chief Fire Officer had power to recommend on fire precautions and prevention, but no jurisdiction. “The fire service has no right to say you must do so and so,” he said. “All the power is vested in the local authority. Don’t use the word ‘jurisdiction’; the Chief Fire Officer has none.” Mr Boyle: That is what 1 have tried to say. No-one is better qualified, but you don’t have to take any notice of him. When the board moved to advise Mr Dallas that the newspaper report of the previous meeting was abbreviated and did not give all the views expressed. Mr Boyle said it should be made clear that there was no misreporting, and Mr Campbell agreed with him. “When I' raise these subjects I am interested only in preventing people getting killed in fires,” Mr Boyle said. “I don’t care two hoots if a building is burned to the ground—tyou can put up another one. But I do care if a life is lost.”