S.S. WARRIMOO ON FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 665, 16 November 1909, Page 6

S.S. WARRIMOO ON FIRE.

1 W'K 'FLAX ONCE MORE.' l} A LONGBATT&E WITH THE HUMES.' "> WELLINGTON CABGO DAMAGED. 1 ' . »lJJ'_Teloii , »pb-Vrnu Aiaodatlos. • Dunedin, November IS A serious ifire occurred in No 1 hold on ™ M Waminoo early this morning, and the outbreak' was not suppressed until considerablo damage had been done A look s ( down the fotehaiohway subsequently ehowed a chaotic mas 3 pf, partially-burned flax, barrels, eoiies (slehcijjcd /"Glass, with care"), and other oddments floating on the surface of lnkhke water that' came level with tho lower ; Further forward the crew's quarters blistered, and blackened, the file having surprised the occopaata of thu forecastle by biasing up through the deolc Thia was all Cw damage visible—the rest war over the side,; or deep down (in, tho ship, and the ~ extent ,of it will not'be asceiUaned for a day or- twif The steerage, also, showed signs »t having heen hastily abandoned by its occupants, aid of haung received a good deal of attention from the iire-hoses. \ ' \j The Outbreak Discovered. v 'At £30 a.m. (according to the ship's log) the tre was discovered. The cargo was not then mag woiked, but one of the men, on , anchor -aratch, appears to have smelt something un■ueual. Then a thin spiral of smoke was discovered. nting frojn forward, and one oi two ( >f tho crew , state that thoy also discerned a > iflaeldißg "sound Mranuous , oflorts -were a.t once made to locate the file, ofheers and men i working at high prossuro, although , care was taken at th« time not to disturb the pas I Bengers. Two leads of hose wore , got to woik, J put the increasingv volumes l, of smoke, and tho intensity of the heat showed that tho ship's hoses were taking little effect, and the city iiit) brigade was summoned. ' , ' i Snip's Hot* > 33m efflbVe now began to ascend m deui-t , clouds pierced 'by leaping tongues of flank r ' The paint curled from tb,d' ironwork lilo , chip, and the deaths of tho forehold glowed and roared like an ljjferno. When the forecastle became too hot the chiof offiter (Mr I J. Hughes) ordered the men to stand oft, ai' descended himself to salvage the luggage, r, " ' ( vsA a possible approach for firo hoses T)le Union Company's assistant man superintendent (Captain M'Donald) was eai' on the scene, and was followed by Sir Jan e= lifila, managing director,' and the marino superintendent (Captain x The iron approach-ladders to the forehdW were by this tilde too het to be msed,i and , the staanekjona, ,nhs, and'plates In the region of the'fire became red hot, notably on the starboard side. _, The ironwork began to crack ominously, givj ing hero and'there every symptom of buckling, and parfe of ithe shell became so hot that the water hissed all round the bow of the vessel. r ' Ffre Brigade' Arrive** i Such was the condition of things wnen tno fire , brigade arrived about 120 The firemen) to get at the conflagration, had. to ,knooi hoke throngh the deck to get leads of water through. ' This {accoinplished, and six leadi got to work. In the scene which fol- * 'lowed, flame and water, steam, smoke, and determined, figures ,of nwn were intermingled iAttempts to get i down ito the seat of the fire ' ivfore many, but unavailing, as the lower part i forward divisiomof the vessel had become ono great oven, in whioh nothing could ihve, and against' which / oven ambke jackets could not avail. '

4 ' ' f Getting Ih'e Hnrtes Ashore. Abaft, and above the fire zone, were stalled Hurty-one horsos* on the mam deck , The aptaui, dfficers, .crew, and>hejpers concentrated\ ioir attention on these, and all horses bound ior Melbourne, were ,landed ( without accident, and with hardly any ejtcitement To extinguish tbo fire it Vas eventually necessary , -iso flood the hold, and pumping operations were in progress till about 8 a.m, when tho water reached beams, .and the Warnmoo >i"drow" abdut 29ft. J forward. [When, the ves&l was sufficiently cool, the pumping-out process com moncod, and, atyZ.3o pjn. tho salmon pink ibout the waterhne was oust reappearing. Aβ far as can be gathered at present the bulk \ if tha cargo in the damaged hold is Wellington ~-v-- Iss.,- , lor Melbourn* A gnoss places the destruction of flax at about 20 tone. In this hold "• there was also timber, general cargo, and a rood many large consignments for Dunedin houses. Exactly what these goods are, to whom they have been consigned, and to what extent they have been damaged cannot be ascertained fall the contents of this part of have, been unloaded. The damage to the cargo forirard must be very considerable, and the damage to tho vessel appears to be several cockled nbs and'plates about tho starboard bow, a scorched fore-cabin, and a partiallydestroyed forecastle Some of the seamen made their escape in the wannest of attire, and, with the firemen, have unstained losse? in personal property. One taan claims to have lost ,, £8 besides his , kit ipare hands were "sisned off" yesterday morn , ing The came of the fire is attributed to </.' spontaneous combustion taking place among i the flax. ( i „ r Eighteen Feet of Water in Hold , Captain Mitohell, of the fire brigade, in conversation with a reporter subsequently, said. "When the brigade arrived wo found tho forehold <D the Warnmoo well alight. Hereabouts the structure of the vessel is flush Thero are no between, decks, so to speak. Tho deck covering the forepart of the, forehold and separating it from the crtw's quarters is wooden, but lined with iron Owing to the intense heat the iron sheathing became rod hot and set fne to the deck of the forecastle", the ocenpante of which had barely , time to escape Pirn on shipboard is\i difficult matter to deal ■nth, it is quite different from a fire in a shore building - Down in the hold the cargo was stowed up M tha beams, presenting a solid barrier between>ns and oni objeetye. Could we have reached the fire we coulji probably have estrnguishetl it in ten mmntcs, but ve could not get at w it Wo set to work with a will, honever, and punched holes through tho deck, over, where we judged the seat of the fire to be, and, though these, wo got down tw.o leads The frro by this time was burning very fiercely The ironwork had become red hot, and'the heat of i tho iron ladder leading! M the lower .hold nas'so intense that il could not be tonched. We had a good bead of water on, and soon »e ivero pumping in at the rate of 2500 gallons per minute The ship also had two ho<es at work, and these added nearly another thousand gil lona a ,mmnte We rao.de two desperate at 'tempts to get below to where the fire was The men wore sifloke jackota, which answered admirably,'but faremen art not salamanders, and though comparatively untroubled by tho smoke, the great heat was unbearable tThere Has nothing tot it bnt 1 to 'deluge the hold, And before 8 am »e had 18ft of water in the fdrehoM, and tho firo was drowned, out ■Even as it wasi the foredabin stood a very good ohance 6f being burned out Tho red hot uon , plates in ''themselves constituted a con t Btaat source of danger. There can be no doubt j that, bad this hro occtirred at sea, it would have been a very serious matter It is e*s*n tial that every ship should be. fitted with chemical eitmgflishers' Tho' damage to the hull will probably be found to be most ezten site on the'starboawL side, , where , several nbs and plates are buckled with the heat

' Melbourne Trip Abandoned. ' When , the Union Sbeam Ship' Company's offices opened it was announced that ihe Warrunoo would not be able to leave on her voy age There wa9 an idea of transhipping the Sasseneers on to a spare steamer, but it was euded to,abandon,* th«r .Melbourne'trip this week. Passengers will consequently the Manuka. TBe Warnm«6.!inll,''after pumping >dry, be unload<sd/ch<! procfably docked at .-Port Chalmers for survey, and hter oargo will be taken on by a tramp stcaTier- ,The work of Qnloading tuu probably be commenced to-day. Tfle-WarnnMX) arrived tm Wellington last Wednesday evening, and l>rft on Fnday morn- * ing on her usual run to Melbourne via southern porta and Hbbart While at this port ehe shipped a quantity of hemp, tow, and flax for tho Melbourne inarfcet , A preliminary inq«uj into tho circumstances snrroanding the will be held by ttw, Collector (if Customs at Dunedin, and tho evidence will be forwarded to the Marine Department \ for consideration, i A serious fire occurred on th« Warrimoo on March 8, 1905, while on a voyage .from Melbourne to New Zealand. She put back to Melbourne, On September 15, 1907, the same ressel was Stranded and got oft 'on the follow(Dg'day. At the'present time tho steamer is to commnd of Captain Clift.