Boat-factory fire loss put at $l00,000

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34009, 25 November 1975, Page 1

Boat-factory fire loss put at $l00,000

Fire destroyed a boatbuilding factory in Darroch Street, Belfast, about 7.30 last evening, causing damage estimated at $lOO,OOO.

A few minutes after the fire broke out, and before the fire brigade had arrived, the building, used by Trophy Boats, Ltd, and Rusbilt Trailers, Ltd, was a collapsed and blazing heap.

Firemen sprayed jets of water on to the rubble in an attempt to save eight boats sitting on their trailers outside the building. Four of them were badly charred, and others blackened by the dense smoke, which billowed over the whole area and could be seen from Christchurch.

Seven new boats, valued from $l7OO to $17,000 each, and their equally expensive moulds were destroyed, with a shipment of boat trailers ordered for the Christmas period. Two of the boats outside the factory had petrol in their tanks, and there was a danger that these would explode. Five engines from Christchurch, St Albans, and Brooklands attended the fire, which was brought under control after 20 minutes.

Firemen pumped water from a nearby swimming pool to augment their dwindling supplies.

it is not known how the fire started.

It is believed that highly flammable solvents and chemical thinners stored in the building aided it as it swept through the wooden structure.

The manager of Trophy Boats, Ltd (Mr W. Jenkins), said that all of the firm’s Christmas orders and all its boat-building equipment had been destroyed. Most of it was covered by insurance. He said he had no idea ho.z the fire had started. The factory, which has been wor>ing for two years and a half, was clean, and all the flammable materials had been stored away and locked up. “With the fibreglass boats the fire would have spread very quickly,” he said.

He said the damage could be as high as $lOO,OOO. He and his six employees would return to work today to survey the damage, and make any plans for the future.

The manager of Rusbilt Trailers, Ltd (Mr A. Russell), said that all his Christmas orders had been destroyed. He had a few more to fill.