Fire down below
Firemen managed to put out a potentially disastrous fire under the basement floor of the Christchurch Chief Post Office last evening. The fire, believed to have been started by a dropped cigarette or match, broke out under a toilet in the historic building about 8.40 p.m. I Thick clouds of smoke [billowed out from burning rubbish and long-discarded building materials under the floor, and firemen had to use breathing apparatus to get at the fire. “There was very’ poor access and hardly any room to work in, but luckily’ we got at - it in time,” said a Fire Service spokesman last evening.
“The post office is like a
lot of very old buildings. If the fire had got really under that would have been the finish,” he said. Part of the old post office will be demolished within the next few years, but plans are under way to preserve its historic facade.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19780414.2.44
Bibliographic details
Press, 14 April 1978, Page 4
Word Count
155Fire down below Press, 14 April 1978, Page 4
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Copyright in all Footrot Flats cartoons is owned by Diogenes Designs Ltd. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise these cartoons and make them available online as part of this digitised version of the Press. You can search, browse, and print Footrot Flats cartoons for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Diogenes Designs Ltd for any other use.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in