EXPLOSION & FIRE

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 62, 6 December 1930, Page 11

EXPLOSION & FIRE

Garage Destroyed THIRTY VEHICLES LOST Awe-inspiring Sight By Telegraph—Press Association. Hastings, December 5; About thirty cars and trucks, only two or three of which were new, were destroyed by a flro which, following a violent explosion, apparently caused by benzine, completely gutted a twostoried wood and iron annexe to J. E. Peach and Co.’s garage at the comer of Eastbourne Street and Karamu Road, Hastings, early this morning. The fire was one of the fiercest and most spectacular that has been seen hi Hastings in recent years, and in hardly more than ten minutes had done its destructive work. The flames lit up the whole neighbourhood so vividly that it seemed at first as though even the buildings across the street were ablaze. The brigade was quickly on the scene, and did magnificent work against heavy odds. The main part of the garage, in which a very large number of cars was stored, was separated from the annexe by a brick wall, and was not affected except by smoke and water. The annexe was an old building, at one time known as Sorensen’s Building. . . Three alarms were given simultaneously at 12.40 a.m. Constable McColl, who was on beat duty, had his attention attracted by a violent explosion. He immediately gave the alarm. Mr. C. Eberhard, manager of the garage, was putting his car away in the garage when the first explosion occurred, and, according to himself, “he picked himself up from the middle of the road. A nearby resident said that she was awakened by an explosion, followed by another a few minutes afterward, bhe then saw the building a mass of flames. While it lasted, the fire was an aweinspiring spectacle, the heat from the blazing building being intense. The explosion shook the police station, about 150 yards away. It was fortunate that there was a thick brick wall between the two buildings, otherwise the damage would have been more extensive. The insurances are not available.