FIRE AFTERMATH

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 112, 4 February 1939, Page 12

FIRE AFTERMATH

Brigadesmen Still At Aitken Street WORK AMONG RUINS Officials Busy Estimating Damage Officers of the Fire Brigade were on duty in Aitken Street, Wellington, all last night at the scene of Thursday morning’s disastrous fire. Among the charred and blackened ruins of the wooden Social Security Building, a thin spiral of smoke still rose from one place near the front of the debris, but where the buildings on the opposite side of the street had been razed there was no sign oi fire.

Hundreds of sightseers crowded round the roped-in area in Aitken Street throughout the day, discussing the fire and watching the firemen working among the debris. In the late afternoon, there was an influx of children and when a quantity of dirty black water was pumped out from the cellar of the Social Security building and ran along the 'gutter, several children paddled bare-footed in it. Glaziers were busy all day m Branscombe Flats and other buildings where windows had been broken by the heat, but in cases where insurance claims were contemplated, the disorder was not otherwise disturbed, pending the visit of the assessors. Because of the large number of properties affected, an official estimate of the damage and the insurances are not yet available. An officer of the fire brigade and insurance company assessors had not completed their investigations yesterday. To discuss aspects of the Aitken Street fire affecting the ratepayers, a special meeting of the Wellington Ratepayers’ Association is to be held on Monday. Firemen Helped. ‘•I should like to express my appreciation to members of other services and the general public who rendered assistance,” said the Superintendent of the Wellington Fire Brigade, Mr. C. A. Woolley in an interview. “I would particularlv mention the following: Mr. R. W.’Malcolm, overhead superintendent for the Wellington City Council, and his staff; Mr. F. W. Good, superintendent of the lighting department, and his staff; members of the Police Force: the assistant chief traffic inspector, Mr. T. Broughton; the city engineer, Mr. K. E. Luke, and members of his staff: Superintendent F. Roffe, of the Wellington Free Ambulance; and Mr. K. Vercoe, fire master for the Wellington Harbour Board. "I would also like to thank those civilians who so readily gave their assistance when called upon to help stretch lines of hose and so on.” Members of the Wellington Fire Brigade who attended the fire have requested “The Dominion” to express their thanks to those residents who provided refreshments for them. Many housewives, they said, had provided cups of tea and sandwiches which had been most welcome. Carpenters’ Heavy Loss. Some 50 carpenters who were working on the Social Security building lost their kits of tools. One of the carpenters, Mr. T. Hyde, said most of the men had lost all their tools in.the fire. The average value of each kit would be about £4O and the loss would be serious. It would be a long time before many of the men would be able to replace their outfits, even if assistance was granted them by the Government, because some of the tools were not easily obtainable. "A great deal of first-class work has gone into that building, and it is a great pity to see it destroyed like this,” said Mr. Hyde. He added that he had no immediate plans for the future, but unde-siood there was plenty of work available for skiiied tradesmen. Mr. Hyde said that 10 of the men employed on the job were tradesmen from England who had recently emigrated to New Zealand. EFFICIENCY PROVED Value Of “Brigade Call” Demonstrated CONCENTRATION OF MEN AND EQUIPMENT Thursday’s big fire was only the second occasion on which a “brigade call” has been sent out since the organization has been built up by Superintendent C. A. Woolley, of the Wellington Fire Brigade. The previous time was at Wliitcombe and Tombs’s fire two years ago. On that occasion the full fighting force was not required, but Superintendent Woolley, to test the efficiency of the organization, sent out a brigade call. Explaining the procedure of a brigade call, Superintendent Woolley said that when the alarm was received the flying squadron, consisting of an officer, a driver, and four men, on a vehicle carrying a motor-pump, hoses and other equipment, went immediately from headquarters to the scene of the fire. They were followed by a second motorpump, the salvage van and the .telescopic ladder. For a night call, a motorpump from Thorndon and another from Constable Street went to the scene and, if they were not required, were sent to headquarters.

The brigade call was relayed by the officer on watdh to all the other stations and additional motor-pumps and other appliances were pressed into service from Brooklyn and Northland. AU leave men and emergency officers were required to report for duty. The possibility of another fire elsewhere in the city was not forgotten, and men and equipment remained available at headquarters, Constable Street and Thorndon, the three key stations. After every fire, the men immediately replaced hoses from reserve stocks aud made all equipment ready for another possible call. Superintendent Woolley said he was pleased to say that the whole organization involved in the brigade call had worked without a hitch. Thus the value of the organization and the many rehearsals that had been held had been proved.

Mile and a Half of Hose.

After the fire, a mile and a half of canvas hose had to be hand-scrubbed, tested for leaks and dried before being coiled ready for use. In 100 feet lengths it was scrubbed with brooms and then each length was tested under pressure for leaks. These were marked in in-

delible pencil so that they could be located and vulcanized when the hose was dry. The hose was then hoisted in lh« air for drying. In wet weather the hoses are placed in a long, vertical drying shaft at the roar of the building. Here, an electrically-driven blower causes a current of warm air to pass over them.