FIRE IN FACTORY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 243, 11 July 1938, Page 13

FIRE IN FACTORY

Building And Machinery Damaged

COMMERCIAL PRINTING CO.

Damage to printing machinery and work in hand, as Well ns to the building, was caused b.v a fire which broke out in the premises of the Commercial Printing amt Publishing Company of N.Z., Ltd., Boulcott Street, Wellington, early yesterday afternoon. The tire is bleieved to have originated in a small drying-room where a kerosene heater had been left to dry the ink on some printed paper. The lire brigade received a call from a street alarm at 1.45 p.m„ and when four engines from the central station and one from (be Thorndon station arrived dense light brown smoke was pouring from the top-floor windows of the three-story brick building. The firemen, who directed a hose at the seat of the fire at the rear of the first floor, had to wear breathing apparatus. TheV obtained control in a few minutes', but smoke from the heated paper continued to belch from the windows for a time. The building has brick walls and wooden floors, but comparatively little damage was done to the structure. The walls of the drying-room, which is on the first floor, and its contents were destroyed, and damage was done to the ceiling and flooring between the first and second floors. Little damage was done on the second floor, which is the composing room of the office, but printing machines on the first floor were affected '*by heat, smoke, and water. Waterproof sheets were placed over the machines on the ground floor to protect them from the water. Work in various stages of completion was damaged or destroyed. The flames did not penetrate to the wooden building next door occupied by the same comPl ßoulcott Avenue leads off Boulcott Street near its junction with Willis Street, and runs behind the Church ot St. Mary of the Angels. A hose stretched across Boulcott Street caused it to be closed to traffic during the fU No assessment of the damage could be made yesterday, but It was stated on behalf of the firm that its printing operations would be interrupted until the plant could be inspected and cleaned.

TWO OTHER CALLS

Hot embers falling from a fireplace in a 'bed-sitting-room at the Nurses Bureau and Residential Club, No. 1 Kensington Street, early yesterday morning caused slight damage to the flooring. The brigade was called at 6.37 o’clock and the fire was extinguished by an engine from the central station. An engine from Miramar responded to a call at 7.7 p.m. yesterday from 68 Tirangi Road, Rongotai, a house owned and occupied by Mrs. Catherine .Stewart. A 'defective flue in a chip heater caused the remains of birds’ nests in the ceiling to become ignitedThe outbreak was extinguished without difficulty, the damage being slight.