HARD TO FIND

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 47, 23 August 1930, Page 14

HARD TO FIND

PIKE PLUGS IN CITY

AN INSURANCE COMPLAINT

It was revealed at yesterday's meeting of tho Fire Board that even firemen have considerable difficulty in finding the fire plugs in the city, of which there are over 5000, and it was decided to recommend to the City Council that a large white circle should be painted round each one. This would also serve to prevent motorists, through ignorance, from parking locked cars over plugs that might bo the nearest to important fires. The matter was discussed as a result of the receipt of a letter from Mr. A. H. Clerke, manager of the Insurance Office of Australia, Ltd., Wellington, in regard to the fire at 21 and 23, Courtcnay place on 14th August, iii premises occupied by Messrs. Barnao Bros. Tho writer said he'understood that tho alarm was given from three points, Pirie.street, the De Luxe Theatre, and tho corner of Courtenay place and Cambridge terrace. The brigade arrived in three minutes, but for some cause there was delay before water was played on the fire, though there was a fire plug outside the premises. When the brigade arrived, Barnao's premises were well alight. Duncan's shop was then intact, but owing to the lapse of time in the brigade getting to work, the heat burst Duncan's windows, and both stock and building wore damaged, whereas, in the view of the writer, little or no damage should have been done. "We feel," he concluded, "that there is something very wrong in the working of the brigade, and in view of the above position, we must ask that the board make the most exhaustive inquiry into the circumstances. It seems to us that in recent years the efficiency of the brigade has been seriously impaired. The maintenance charges incurred, to which the companies largely contribute, are heavy, and add considerably to our overhead expenses, and we very much doubt if we are getting that measure of protection to which we are entitled." SUPERINTENDENT'S REPLY. The reply of Superintendent J. Greeke was as follows: — "The first call was received at the Central Station at 3.5 a.m., from the fire alarm call point at the corner of Pirie street and Kent terrace, the second being from the corner of Levy street and Courtenay place. Tho first engine turned out promptly under my charge, and upon arrival at the fire I found that Barnao's shop was completely burned out. The flames were spread over the footpath, and the fire had already made headway into the adjoining shop, occupied by Archibald Duncan. There" was no unnecessary delay in- getting to work from a hydrant on the west side- of the fire, and the- flames were extinguished in a very few minutes; It is true that a fire plug was situated' outside the premises,- but it was not possible to work from it. The plug is situated on, the footpath, and the flames from the fire had it well covered. Considering the proportions tho fire had reached before the arrival of the brigade—a fact which- is indisputable and which is supported by the first call being received from such a distant point as Pirie street, proving that tho fire was showing prominently—the brigade operations v/ere carried out swiftly and efficiently, and I take strong exception to the. allegations of the writer of the complaint. Mr. Clerke requests the board to make an inquiry into the matter and I should bo pleased if the board- would accede, as I particularly desire to challenge the statements regarding the efficiency of the brigade." Reference was made by Mr. A*. W. Parton to a fire in Dixon street, where the fire plug that would have best served was blocked by the parking of a locked car with the brakes on. Mr. Parton also alluded to the alleged use of a plug some distance from the recent Gresham fire, although he understood there was one1 nearer. Superintendent Crecke said that it was no easy thing to find a fire plug, a somewhat inconspicuous object at night, and the practice was to use the first plug that was found. It was easy to overrun the plug with the reel, which made progress slower. There were over 5000 plugs in the city, and it was impossible for members of the brigade to memorise them all. Councillor C. D. Morpeth suggested that the same principle in use in Palmerston North, the painting of a white circle six feet in diameter round the plug, should be followed here, as the paint could be seen day or night, and this would also prevent motorists parking over it. His motion, "That a recommendation to tfce City Council be made that it adopt the system in use in Palmerston North in regard to the marking of fire plugs," seconded by Mr. Parton, was carried. It was decided to request Mr. Clerke to furnish any comments on the superintendent's report he wished, or to supply any further information he could, and the superintendent was asked to supply a report regarding the Gresham Hotel fire and the plugs used on that occasion.