Clearing fire site begins

Press, 19 April 1985, Page 5

Clearing fire site begins

The big clean-up began yesterday at the fire-dam-aged premises of the Christchurch furniture firm of D. A. Lewis and Company, Ltd. “We will get straight back into it and carry on,” said a company director, Mr Mark Lewis. The company’s factory, in Manchester Street, near Bealey Avenue, was destroyed on Wednesday in the biggest fire in Christchurch for about three years. Damage is estimated at more than $1 million. An electrical fault is believed to have caused the fire, which started in a spray booth in the polishing department. The production of hard furniture would be the most

affected by the blaze, said Mr Lewis. The making of upholstery, however, would resume today. “Satellite” factories in Christchurch would provide the materials. Mr Lewis said that insurance assessors and engineers had inspected the site of the damaged factory yesterday. The company would have to look for temporary premises to make hard furniture. A “quite considerable” quantity of stock was destroyed in the blaze, said Mr Lewis. The loss was greater than the insured value. Firemen kept a watch on the factory on Wednesday night. Fifteen fire engines, including specialist equipment, were at the factory at the height of the blaze, which took about 50 minutes to bring under control. Fifty workers fled the factory but the only person injured was a man who cut a hand as he broke the glass on a fire alarm.