FIRE IN THE CITY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 205, 23 May 1908, Page 5

FIRE IN THE CITY.

POST OFFICE BLOCK ABLAZE. SPLENDID WORK BY FIREBIEN. THE MAIN BUILDING SAVED. ANXIOUS TIME FOR, POST AND TELEGRAPH OFFICIALS. At about 8.50 o'clock last evening tho Fire Brigade received' a call to an outbreak of fire in tho centr§ of,- the business part of tho city, and on arriving at tho ■ rear of tho; General Post Office found that the flames had obtained a firm'hold on tho: old threostory corrugated iron building'on tho comer of Featherston and Panaina Streets, only the second floor of which possessed a tenant, Messrs. Casey and Moran, solicitors. Within a few minutes the old iron building became a roaring furuacs, that soon sont out flaming messengers to tho miscellaneous collection of old buildings at the rear of the General Post Qffice,, occupying what is generally ■ termed tho Post Offico Block. Fanned by vigorous' gusts from tho northwest, the fire quickly spread into a twostoried building with a brick frontage to Panama Street, and frpm there.to a wooden building which stood humbly besido tho big blank wall of the .G'.PJO.'Vlf couple-of'leads of hose were .soon at work on the Featherstbn Street frontage, and a 'little after ,9 'p.m. throe leads wero being directed on tho burn- 1 ing buildings from Panama Street. The water from those five .-leads seemed to bo of. little effect, as all wero being directed from tho streets, and tlio firo seemed to bo converging on - to tlie,centre. of 'tho block, while steadily advancing.oii the,great white wall of the Post Office building. Tho firo seomed to sweep through the old buildings, and tho flames leapt higher- and higher with> each successive wind squall, until they arrived at tho wall, which they licked hungrily and with a ferocity that suggested that they would not bo denied. The. Post Offioe proper was shut off from tho area of fire by a stout brick wall, pierced about 25ft.. from Panama Street by a door in each of the three floors, loft presumably when tho building' was erected to communicate;Tj-itH; future additions.

THE DANCER POINT; This becamo the'danger , point. Would the fire got in?—that was the question on every lip, and nearly everyone who watched amidst the scurrying smoke and showers of livo fire from the Panama Street pavements held,the opinion that nothing short of a miraclo could prevent the fire getting through and repeating the havoc created by the'conflagration of 1887. Up to this point, the Brigade seemed to bo in difficulties with their big telescope ladder,- and tho firemen had to bo content to throw water from the street level at and over the little wooden building that provided food 'for tho furnace. As a; quarter to ton chimed tho western face of the clockwas shufi out by a ragged banner of flame, and a great fire-laden .gust of smoke-perr, meated wind choked up "the street. But a little after this the ladder- cart was trundled into position, and tho ladder/extended to/its;' full height, was propped against,,the parapet, i of tho Post Office; over the cart entranco on' tho Panama Street side." The ladder having been- adjusted, a hoso was soon passed , up, and five minutes later the glistening helmets of a couplo of firemen could be seen on top of tho back wall' immediately overlooking;the seat of tho fire. .It was only;a; momentary glance,; for thoy wero soon shut off by great volumes of staT-shot smoko that rnshed away over the building to the south. "When nest seen they had a lead playing directly down on to tho fire, which had never ,: ceased its ■assault on. the only vulnerable points''— the three doors—one above tho other. FIRE-PROOF DOORS. Fortunately, these apertures. were.,blocked with fire-proof doors,of: wood' encased in.stout galvanised iron. There was a .frame'of woodwork, which caught: alight and indeed burnt through on the top floor, but the'doors stood up gamely until relief came. This took tho form of' another coriplb of leadsj which : had been hauled up to the roof, and were shooting fierce cascades onHhe-billowy flamos bolow. It was a gran.di struggle for _mastery. / Tho wind, which se<3med to freshen during th<) progress of the fire, gave its aid to the flames, and how much it countcd for could be seen as it swept 1 -tho flames hissing this way and that amongst a wilderness'of glowing rafters. Tho snapping and falling of timbers, tlio flapping ofw vagrant' sheets of curled and twisted' corrugated iron, kopt up a fusillade that induced many to ask what; combustibles wero stored ou the . premises. THE GALLANT BRIGADE. ; But the little gang of firemen on the walltop wero tho men of the moment. At 10 p.m. six of them could,be discerned bonding thoir heads to each w.hirl of scorching heat, but thoir efforts were beginning to tell —and ,tho doors held. Nothing-■ else • mattered! Gradually the' fire less--fiercely, and tho flames fell away frbmi thoir best , (or worst) achievement, as jtho,„ water/.poured down relentlessly from above; "By Vgradual process there becamo moro: black and loss red, until at 10.15 p.m; it could bo fairly said that the Brigade had gained tho upper hand —and the General Post Offico wa,s saved I Everything was subsidiary to this. Indeed, it -would not have mattered much if tho whole of tlio block, othor Post , Office proper, had beon donjplteh&l,"i.fdr 'pearly th<£ whole of the buildings, most of which. aro unoccupied, are about to be demolished to make way for the new Post Office that is to covor tho fire-swept area and those buildings in Foatherston Street and Grey Street that escaped scot free. WHERE THE DAMAGE W/iS DONES" As indicated above, the fire raged fiercest along the Panama Street sido of ,tho block' in those doad-looking buildings that lost all, hope of commercial or, architectural imporI tanco long ago. Tho building whero tho firo broke out was a folic of a past ago. Tho ground floor was ■ occupied. by -Messrs. J. O'Brien and Co., carriers and storemen, up till a few weeks ago,- when they shifted out on receipt of notice that the building was about to bo pulled down. Messrs. Casey and Moran wero still in the occupation of the first floor, admittance to which waa gained by a narrow woodon stairway from Panama Street. Tho second floor or garret was believed to bo unoccupied. So great was tho heat in this building that tho walls of iron glowed, red-hot for some time' beforo they burnt through and fell clattering on to tho pavomont. Tho breaches made in tho walls released bundles of papers, which flew, alight ancl othorwiso, along tho street with every gust of wind. Between tha corner building and tho Post Offico was a two-story brisk-fronted , building, the top floor of which was being used hy the Public Works Department as a

carpenters' workshop. Up till rcoently the' ground floor was used as a telephone fitting and repair shop, but that department is now located in Nathan and Co.'s building, and tho spaco was occupied as a storo for miscellaneous post and telegraph goods. Between tho brick building and tho Post Offico was a two-story wooden building, totally destroyed, that was also utilised for storago purposes. Tho first-floor door from the General Post Office opened into that building, and the second-floor door led down to it by means of a covered-in' stairway, which has now disappeared in smoko. There was no door on the ground floor, as that corner of the big building w;as merely a cart 011tranco to the mail-room. Returning to Foatherston Street, the wooden building next to O'Brien's was up till recently occupied by J. Keir, carrier, and-has been unoccupied sinco the premises were vacated some weeks ago. This Building is not much damaged, nor are the premises next door, lately in the occupation of Mr. Ekins, locksmith, etc.. Tho firo did - not reach the offico of ,tho Stato Fire Insurance at the cohier of Grey and Featherston Streets, and tho other old wooden buildings in Grey Street, tho Parcels Post and. Dead Letter Office (Levin and Co.'s old offices), and tho wooden building next dcor (formerly, in tlw occupation of the Inspector of Weights and Measures' and tho' Shipmasters' Association) escaped'seathless. ■' V