FOURTH BIG FIRE IN A YEAR

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 94, 15 January 1940, Page 9

FOURTH BIG FIRE IN A YEAR

Hope Gibbons Building Badly Damaged

CYCLE EQUIPMENT DESTROYED Loss Estimated At About £30,000 For the fourth time within 12 months damage running into thousands of pounds was caused in Wellington by fire, when the rear block of Hope Gibbons’s building in Dixon Street was seriously damaged by an outbreak on Saturday night. Flames leaping many feet into the air from the top of the five-story building made a spectacular sight against the dark storm clouds, and a crowd of several thousand soon gathered to watch the blaze destroy the fourth and fifth floors. Intense heat, caused by burning rubber, packing, and other material, made the work of the Fire Brigade extremely difficult, but soon after 9 p.m., a little more than an hour after the fire began, it had the flames under control.

The stock of cycle equipment which Hope Gibbons, Ltd., bad stored on the fifth floor was probably the biggest in New Zealand and was completely destroyed. As there has been a shortage of cycle equipment for some time, this further depletion of stocks is likely lo be serious. Mr. A. R. Thomas, general manager of Hope Gibbons, Ltd., said that the damage to the stock oh the fifth floor and' to the building would amount to about £30,000, as nearly as lie could estimate. The -next biggest sufferer from the fire was the Welsbach Light Co., on the fourth floor, who had all its" stock of electrical and other equipment destroyed. Stock owned by tailoring firms on the third and second floors was damaged by water. Water soaked through records which the Labour Department bad on the second floor.

The following are the occupiers of th’e building:— Ground and first floor, Hope Gibbons, Ltd., wholesale merchants; second floor, Leo Blake, Ltd,, clothing manufacturers, and Labour Department; third floor, Frank Lee, tailor; fourth floor, Welsbach Light Company of Australasia, Ltd.; fifth floor, Hope Gibbons, Ltd.

Fire Isolated.

Fire-resisting doors, which were shut when the outbreak occurred, isolated the fire from adjoining buildings. The building is built of brick, with Wooden floors.

The building is fitted with an automatic alarm, and it was through this that the Fire Brigade received the call at 7.57 p.m. Three lire engines and a ladder machine from the Central Fire Station and one machine from the Constable Street Station and another from <the Thorndon Station rushed to the fire, which had a good hold in the fourth floor. The fire was fiercest against the north wall, and it was apparently there that it began. Flames were already breaking through to the fifth floor when the brigadesmen began to attack the blaze, and the terrific heat from the highly inflammable material stored in the building forced the firemen back from the top floor. Thick clouds of smoke forced the 10 to 18 men at work inside the building to wear respirators. Leads of hose were played on to the building from all sides. Firemen with hoses were stationed on the tops of buildings in Taranaki Street, Egniont Street, Inglewood Place, and Dixon Street. Another lead was played from the top of a ladder in Inglewood Place. To prevent damage by water to the stock in the lower floors of the building the brigade laid salvage sheets wherever possible. On the third floor of the building a man,was stationed with a hose to lessen the danger of the lire Spreading downward. The crackiri* of windows, through which sheets of -flame darted and the lire roared as it ate its way toward the top of the building kept spectators watching, in spite of the heavy downpour of rain. Roof Crashes In. Shortly after nine o’clock the roof crashed in, and great showers of sparks and long flames rushed skyward. With no roof on the building the heat lessened and tlie smoke cleared and the work of the brigadesmen was made much easier. A lead of hose was played on the top (floor from the landing. Another was from the top of the fire escape. By 9.30 the worst of the fire was over, though water was played on the building till about 1 a.m. Nothing was saved from the fourth and fifth 'floors, the fire destroying everything. Charred and burnt timber from the floor’s above lay feet deep ton the fourth floor yesterday. On twoliilrds of tire fifth floor which withstood tho fire, cycle rims and other metal cycle equipment lay about in big heaps. Tire heavy rain during the night soaked through the building, and yes* 'thtday morning there was a steady stream of water running down the staircase. On the second and third floors large quantities' of water were dripping through from the ceiling above.

The last person left the fourth floor ■about 11.45 amt. on Saturday, when there was no sign of fire. 'Though firemen were working on tlie ■roof of the King’s Theatre, which is very close to tho scene of the tiro, there was no interruption to the picture programme. Very few of the patrons apparently knew of the fire, ■as at half-time many of those coming out of the theatre seemed surprised to see the fire engines in front of the theatre. The interval between the first and second acts of the show at the Opera House coincided with the height of the fire, and patrons had an excellent view of the blaze from the lounge windows. During the second interval patrons hurried out again to see how 'the blaze was progressing, but by that Hine the brigade had the flames well ■under control.

“The tire was not easy to get at. and ■the intense heat and smoke made the work during the early stages extremely 'difficult,” said Mr. J. Philp, deputysuperintendent of the tire brigade, who was in charge of the fire-fighting, The superintendent, Mr. C. A. Woolley, was on holiday. Mr. Philp paid a tribute to the assistance given the brigade by the police, traffic officers, tire police, and St. John Ambulance Brigade. Soiue of the men's eyes were affected by smoke. file stock on ihe ground floors was moved to another building yesterday morning.