A HUGE CONFLAGRATION

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 54, 27 November 1928, Page 11

A HUGE CONFLAGRATION

BIGGEST CITY FIRE FOR YEARS SEA OF FLAME RACES BRIGADE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DAMAGE For several hours last night, Wellington was treated to the grim spectacle of one of the greatest conflagrations that has been seen in the city for years. At 10 o’clock, great billows of flame and smoke rolled up from the, heart of the fruit and produce market. • A roaring, devouring sea of fire raged through halt a street block Estimates of the damage range from £ 150,000 to £200,000. The premises involved in more or less total destruction are as follows:— Messrs. D. Bowie and Co., Fruit Auc- Brown Bros, and Geddes, Ltd., Condoners. fectionery Manufacturers. Open China Warehouse. George ? n , < ? ®°’ Tolan Printing Works. j 11 , 1 *? Bons. Thompson Bros, and Co. Platers, Ltd. Laery and Co. Goldingham and Beckett, Ltd. (damagLaery, Beveridge and Co. (damaged). ed). Johnson and Eglin. Also a number of smaller firms operatGriffin and Savage. big in these buildings.

At first the fire was confined to the big three-storied brick and steel girder premises of Thompson Brothers and Company, Ltd., the proprietors of the Wellington Fruit and Produce Exchange. Their building runs through from Blair Street to Allen Street, and has wide frontages to both streets. Seen from the top story of “The Dominion” building shortly after 10 o’clock, the lire was deep-seated in the centre of this building, and was undoubtedly of great extent and fierce intensity. The deep, red glow of the sea of flames lit up the whole of the Courtenay Place-Wakefield Street section of the city, and vast clouds of smoke rolled high over the surrounding blo-ks. A close-up view of the conflagration a few minutes later confirmed the impression that this was no ordinary fire, but a very serious outbreak that would test the whole of the city’s fire-fighting staff and plant to the utmost.

A Huge Crowd Gathers. By 10.30 p.m. practically the whole of the picture theatre crowds had massed themselves at points of vantage to watch the grim scene, and every minute their numbers were swelled by hundreds pouring in from all parts of the city. It was wet and sloppy underfoot and every now and then a heavy downpour of rain beat on the assembled thousands who appeared not mind a wetting, either from the rain' or from the showers of water that spurted from overstrained hoses or hastily-made couplings. Many police were early on the scene, and they had a strenuous time in holding back over-eager people who were keen to get a close-up view, but who ran a risk from flying glass and blazing wood-work, while there was a danger of their hampering the operations of the fire brigade. Hundreds of motor-cars parked along Wakefield street and other thoroughfares adjacent to the scene of the fire, added to the congestion, but they were not allowed to come too near. The crowd must have numbered 30,000 or 40,000, but, divided up as it was, it was difficult to judge numbers. It was certainly the biggest crowd that has watched a fire in Willington for many a year, and it was certainly very orderly and amenable to the orders of the police to “keep back.” Fire Master’s Brigade. At half-past ten the brigade was working hard in both Allen aud Blair Streets, but they did not appear to have enough water to work with. At the northern end of Thompson Brothers’ building in Blair Street, the 80-foot ladder was elevated into position and rested on the parapet of the adjoining three-storied block. The crowd cheered the firemen as they mounted to the top with a lead of hose and attempted to attack the fire on the flank. So fierce was the blaze and so deep-seated that the water had no apparent effect. Other firemen standing in the street below directed two other leads of hose on to the front of the building, but the water from one barely reached the second story, and none had the slightest effect in staying the progress of the conflagration.

Engine after engine dashed up to the scene, having been rushed in from the more distant stations. Lead after lead of hose was run out, so many in fact, that there seemed to be some mixing up of the lines. By 11 o’clock the whole of the city’s plant was in action, but it was not enough. The water pressure was good then, and the powerful jets crackled and hissed as they spurted from the nozzles. The powerful motor pumps wailed with a high-pitched note as they laboured at their task, but all the water that could be got failed to stay the roaring devouring fire-monster that made the doomed building a vast flaming cauldron. At one time the glare in Blair Street died down a little as the water drove the fire back through the windows, but it increased in volume in Allen Street and the crowd poured to the corners of that thoroughfare. Into Wakefield Street. Meanwhile ominous coils of smoke were rising from the roof of the block facing Wakefield Street. The smoke increased in volume, while the firemen climbed to the first story in Blair Street. There an ominous red glow showed through the windows of Teagle Smith and Sons’ premises in the centre of the block facing Wakefield street, and a few minutes later there came the crash of glass, and of falling debris hurled through the window frames. The fire had worked its way through the upper story at a right angle to the line of the main blaze, and feeding hungrily on the stocks of inflammable material stored in Teagle Smith's premises made another conflagration of first-class intensity and dimensions. Baffled for a while by this new onslaught of flame, it was some time before the brigade was able to get a lead of hose in action on Wakefield Street. The building was heavily stoekde with motor accessories of all kinds. I but whatever they were they were great fuel for the hungry flames, which raged ' through the third story with an intensity and volume that for a long time mocked the best efforts of the toiling firemen. Whatever attack they brought to bear on the front of the blazing buildings, they made absolutely no ’mpression on the heart of the conflagration in the centre of the street block. It was a vnst volcano of flame and smoke with great showers of sparks and blazing debris pouring over Courtenay Flace. The flames roared high over the building of Thompson Bros., in great licking tongues : which rose fifty to sixty feet above the | roof.

When the blaze seemed a little less in volume in Blair Street it was in full blast in Wakefield Street and Allen Street.

Thompson Bros.’ premises were one vast furnace in which metal fittings fused and great steel girders v„isted and curled and fell away into the mass of debris which broke through to form a molten mass on the ground floor. Entering the building, of which the Upper storey was occupied by Brown, Geddes and Company, wholesale confectioners, a “Dominion' ’reporter watched the fire devouring everything in the main building. Strings of hundreds of Christmas hams simply melted into nothingness in the intense heat, the grease adding to the fury of the fire. There were ominous signs that the conflagration was working in a new direction. There were muffled explosions and sparks of blazing wood ,and streams of molten metal poured through on to the concrete floor, from which most of the fruit and produce had been cleared It was a long, long time before firemen came into the building, and when they got a lead of hose in action they turned the water on to the main seat of the fire for a quarter of an hour, until the threat overhead became too insistent to be ignored. Another lead was brought in from Blair Street, and two powerful jets were directed upwards through the floor. This seemed to check the fire a little, but on going outside great billows of smoke were seen pouring through the roof for the whole length of the building. Fifteen minutes later, the flames full blast. The stocks ofetaoi shrdlfb broke out, and another great fire was in full blast The stocks of confectionery and other goods fed the flames, which scared the inmates of the hotel at the corner of Courtenay Place, and galvanised the struggling Chinamen into greater activity in getting the goods out of the store of Wall Kee Bros. This fire was another huge blaze, which defied the efforts of the brigade for over an hour. While this blaze was besting the brigade. the fire made yet another attack in Blair Street, gutting the premises of Tolan’s Printing Company and other firms. Thus it can be said that from first to last the fire spread in four directions from the original centre, and at all times it got well ahead of the utmost efforts of the brigade to check it. Luckily there was practically no wind at any time during the four hours that the fire raged most fiercely. If there had been anything like a breeze from any quarter, it is safe to say that the whole street block would have gone, and that buildngs on the other sides of the streets would have been in grave danger.

FIRE-FIGHTERS’ DIFFICULT TASK FLAMES SPREAD RAPIDLY WATER SUPPLY INADEQUATE From what could be gathered from where the flames were first seen, the fire appeared to have broken out iu the upper portion of Thompson Bros.’ premises, in Blair Street, adjoining Burbidge Buildings, and when the fire brigade arrived on the scene the flames were leaping in a lurid glare from tiie roof, the contents of these premises feeding the fire until it spread rapidly towards the inner portions of the building, until Laery, Beveridge and Co.’s premises in Allen Street were involved. In a little over half-an-hour the fire had gone right through from Blair to Allen Street. The whole forces of the Wellington Fire Brigade were summoned, together with the fire police and civil police, and their efforts were augmented by a number of sailors from H.M.S. Dunedin.

The fire brigade was handicapped at the start by the poor water pressure, and difficulty was experienced in getting more than one stream through the top story windows. The 80ft. fire ladder was brought into use. but the numerous wires obstructed the way, and it was a difficult job to run it up to the roof. This was accomplished next to Hayward's warehouse in Burbidge Buildings, and the men on the ladder concentrated on keeping the fire out of those, which they succeeded in doing. It was some time before the water pressure was increased, and the difficulty was to get enough leads to play. The top floors of Thompson Bros, and Laery’s premises crashed through, and in the course of the next hour the remaining floors followed suit, and the interior of a great block of buildings about 100 yards square became a roaring inferno. Laery’s bonded store was threatened, but the concrete walls and efforts of the brigade saved this buildings: at least it was saved up to 1 o’clock this morning. Burbidge and Co.’s premises were also saved for the time being, but the block in between. Teagle. Smith and Co., importers of motor accessories, was gulfed, and the brigade had to attack it from the Wakefield Street end. Both corner properties still the flames. Flames Spread Rapidly. In the meantime tbc fire had progressed in the other direction, and Thomas’s fruit auction mart, Laery’s auction mart, Browu, Geddis and Co.’s confectionery warehouse, Griffin. Savage and Co., Ltd., George Thomas and Co., all these premises were involved. these blocks representing practically another huge outbreak. Beams smashed and girders melted or bent with the heat, faded to hold, and tremendous reports occurred from time to time.. At 1 o’clock the Tolan Printing Works, a Chinese ware-

house, and Bowie and Co.’s premises were threatened with disaster. As soon as the 80ft. automatic fire ladder was run to the top of Hayward’s warehouse,'in Burbidges Building, a lead of hose was run to the top by three firemen, who played on it from the parapet. Suddenly the flames burst through the windows on the top floor of Thompson’s building, about 10ft. from the men tit the top of the ladder. The heat must have been intense, but they stuck to their task, one holding the lead, and the others, a few steps below, holding the hose in position. “Come out of it” yelled voices in the crowd, anxious for the safety of the brigadesmen, but they went over the top, and secured a little shelter behind the concrete party wall. Presently, they succeeded in turning the hose through these windows, and subdued the worst /if the flames for the time, when they played on the wall to keep the fire from piercing through. Shortly before midnight, a “Dominion representative was inside the extreme end of the fruit auction mart, from where one could see right into the heart of the fire, which was a veritable inferno. Floors were crashing through everywhere. A lead was taken in through the Allen Street entrance to Thomas’s auction _ mart, from where it played on the ceiling of the ground floor, along which the lire was spreading. Hams and bacon in Laery's premises were sizzling, and the fat was adding fuel to the flames. Fresh Block Involved. At this period, about midnight, it was seen that the fire was eating its may overhead to Brown, Geddis and Co.’s confectionery stores and another, warehouse containing rubber goods, and it appeared that efforts might have been made with some prospect of success in holding the fire away from Brown, Geddis and Co.’s. There were appearances of some control being obtained when a crash overhead told that a new block of buildings and warehouses had become involved, and those standing in Thomas’s auction room promptly cleared out of the place. Ten minutes later this also was a furnace, and Brown, Geddis and Co.’s premises were in the maw of the flames. As the confectionery blazed away huge clouds of dense black smoke went through and up into the sky, and then with a roar the flames went through the root, leaping fiftv feet into the air above the roof. Windows crashed, and the people in the hotel nt the Courtenay Place end of Allen Street made a hurried exit. G. Wah Kee and Co. have a long, narrow iron building between the main block and the hotel, and from this the firemen directed a lead of hose. The blaze was furions and for a time water seemed to make little impression upon it. The heat was intense, and in the buildings on the opposite side of Allen Street the heat could be felt through the closed windows. . „ . , Out of Control.

With fire engines on three sides fighting the outbreak, the brigade were unable to control the fire in its spread in the direction of Courtenay Place, and with the fiery furnace created by the blaze in the confectionery warehouse the Tolan Printing Works were involved. LJIIS was about 1 o’clock, and the Open China Warehouse and D. Bowie and Co. s premises were then attacked by the fire and were hopelessly brought into the blaze. The crowds on all sides, while orderly, had to be kept back by the police, for their own safety, for with the iron girders and reinforcing rods bending with the terrific heat, there was a danger of the walls collapsing. Precautionary Measures. Representatives of the insurance companies and members of firms whose premises were involved, as well as those adjoining, were on the scene, and steps taken to guard premises on the opposite side of the surrounding streets from flying sparks. Great smouldering cinders were dropping in Courtenay Place, and sparks were drifting away up Tory Street. The roof of the sevenstory building over Martin’s boot store was crowded with people who had made this a vantage place from which to look down upon tiie mighty conflagration. It also served as a good look-out to watch premises all round the vicinity to see that the sparks did not start fires going elsewhere.

Truly the members of the fire brigade had their hands more than full. The equipment which was spoken of with pride a few days ago following a demonstration and was said to be one of the best equipments for fire fighting purposes in New Zealand, proved unequal to tiie task. The water supply was for a long time totally inadequate, and there were times when the feeble stream, playing on the walls and unable to struggle above the second floor, made the efforts to fight the fire appear exceedingly futile. Fire hose was lying about in all directions, hydrants being brought into use from all quarters round the doomed area. One hose burst and the section had to be replaced. In another instance the water was turned on before the nozzle was fixed and the crowd in the vicinity got a rare drenching. Mr. S. S. Dean, .manager of the South British Insurance Company, recalled that a fire occurred in a portion of these buildings two or three years ago and caused damage amounting to about £40,000. At midnight he estimated that the premises then involved would incur a loss of quite £lOO.OOO, and at that hour Brown, Geddis, and Co., Bowie’s. Tolan’s Printing Works and the Open China Warehouse had not become involved. At a later hour it was estimated that the loss would run from £150,000 to £200,000. and the fire was not then under control. . , The Fire Police were m attendance in charge of Captain Wright, assisted by Deputv-Captnin Ballinger and Lieutenant Short, and nearly every member of the Fire Police.

FINAL SCENE IN ALLEN . STREET At 12.20 the fire took a new lease of life, and raged furiously, despite the efforts of the brigade. The three stories of Laery and Co’s, warehouse were a seething inferno, the top noor being completely burned out, while onlv a few blackened timbers remained on the second floor. All the heavy timbers and -goods from the top floor had fallen to the ground floor, sometimes crashing down with a roar like field guns in action. An occasional explosion added to the general din and confusion. „ Bv 1 a.m., the top floor of Geoige Thomas and Co.’s warehouse was a ruin onlv an odd charred beam remaining. The firemen continued their fight, but it was a hopeless task, and soon the flames had their grip of the ground floor. The whole frontage of Laery and Co., Brown and Geddes, Ltd., and George Thomas and Co. was a ruin, practically only the r ®‘ maining, and inside the packed debris was blazing furiously. By now it was literally a matter of the fire burning ltS At f Ll 5 a.m., the whole of the space between Blair and Allen Streets was •iblaze. with the exception of two corners, which adjoined Wakefield Street, and the buildings which fronted Courtenav Place. The outbreak at Teagle S had been conquered, but the fire was still raging in the building behind Symond’s butcher's shop. About 2 o’clock, the frantic efforts of tlie Are fighters were rewarded, and for the first time during the evening the fire was under control. Huge crowds in Blair, Alien, and Wakefield Streets watched the moving panorama with keenest interest, and when “The Dominion” went to press some thousands of people were still fascinated by the moving scene.

HELPERS INJURED While assisting at the fire, an auxiliary fireman, Alec. Creeke, son of Superintendent Creeke. was injured on the right hand by falling glass. He

was taken to the hospital at 11.15 p.m. by the Free Ambulance. S. Jones, a lorry-driver, living at 80 Taranaki Street, also received wounds on the right hand, caused by falling glass. He was given attention at the ONLOOKERS GET A WETTING Numerous hydrants at various times burst, and scattered the crowd right and left. At about 1.20 a.m. the roof of the first floor of Laery’s auction room gave way with a loud crash, which was followed by another when the floor gave way finally. By that time, the Blair Street properties were blazing as freely as ever, the heat from the Open Warehouse Company’s building being terrific. The air was oppressive with the smell of burning oranges, pineapples, and added to that, oil. At last tlie Fire Brigade hoisted a telescopic ladder and sent a stream of water through the windows of the first floor of the Open Warehouse. Several firemen who were stationed upstairs in the various buildings were in danger, for about this time rafters began falling right and left. All through the night the men from the Dunedin continued to give their valuable assistance. The rain had the effect of sending many people home, but right into the early hours of the morning some hundreds remained to watch. The new seven-storied Courtenay Chambers presented an unique sight. The whole building was brilliantly illuminated. and on the ton of it was a big crowd of people. Those who I'-’I™'"®" 1 ™'"®" in Allen. Blair and Wakefield .greets were more or less drenched with the water from the heavens and from the many leaks in hoses.

Don’t be a loser. Get adequate insurance. Consult the Mercantile and General Insurance Co., Ltd., lanama Street, Wellington.—Advt.