FIRE RAZES SAWMILL

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32117, 13 October 1969, Page 1

FIRE RAZES SAWMILL

Heavy Loss At Reefton

(From Oar Own Reporter)

GREYMOUTH, October 12.

The Reefton Sawmill of H. W. Smith (West Coast), Ltd, (above) will be out of action for a long time after a fire which destroyed the mill buildings on Saturday evening.

The cause of the blaze is not known but is being ■ investigated by the Reef ton Fire Brigade. The alarm was given at 6.20 p.m. on Saturday and the brigade was on the scene within minutes. The brigade played hoses on the blaze for an hour and three-quarters before bringing it under control, but the 300 feet bv 60 feet building was severely damaged. The firemen prevented the flames from advancing to other parts of the company's plant—the drying kiln, the pre-cut housing section and the treatment plant. Because it was a week-end little timber, was .inside the mill. r ' - . “The mill will-have to be completely rebuilt,” the manager (Mr A. Thomas) said. This section of the company's activities employed about 20 persons in the mill and about 40 in the bush. The company will endeavour to find work for those persons in other sections until mill production is re- i sumed. The mill has been in production for almost three years ! and produces three million superficial feet of timber annually. The company is one

of Reefton’s largest single employers.

Paying a tribute to the brigade for the manner in which it contained the blaze, Mr Thomas said it had recently held an exercise in which the mill was the focal point. This exercise had assisted the firemen in understanding the lay-out of the