PETROL DUMP SWEPT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 92, 20 April 1931, Page 9

PETROL DUMP SWEPT

INCENDIARISM SUSPECTED

(By Telegraph.) (Special to "The Evening Post.") CH.RISTCHUKCH, This Day. Following the big fire which did scriOUS damage to tho Christchureh Gas Company's tar by-products plant on Saturday morning, there was another big blaze shortly after midniglit on Saturday, Messrs. Dalgoty and; Company's petrol dump at Hornby being swept and 32 5 000 gallons of petrol and power kerosene destroyed. Incendiarism is suspected. The fire started at approximately 12.15 a.m. in one end of the earthen compound in which 720 44-gallon drums of petrol were stored. It was first seen by Mr. L. Brownie, whose home adjoins the section on.which the dump was situated. He immediately gave the alarm, and with others endeavoured to remove some of the drums, but only four had been taken away when the heat became so intense that Mr. Brownie and the others were driven well away from the compound. As each successive row of drums caught alight many of them burst with a noise that could be heard in the city, and they were flung high in* the air. Long streams of flaming oil trailed behind, and some of the drums fell over 100 feet away from the compound, while others, swollen with terrific heat, burst their seams and shot hissing petrol up into the air. The drums were stored singly in rows in an open earth compound, situated on the edge of the Hornby.gravel pits. Approximately 100 feet square and surrounded by a 4 feet high earthen wall, the compound was built in accordance with the recommendation of tho explosiyes regulations, in an isolated place and with walls to prevent any spread of .oil in the event of firo. , The only building on.the compound was a small galvanised iron shed in which was stored 30 drums of lubricating oil. This was also destroyed, and provided in itself a spectacular fire. It is siispoeted that the fire was started deliberately, for the circumstances do not point to there being any possibility of an- accidental origin. Tho compound could be easily entered by unauthorised persons, being protected only by a wire-meshing fence, while tho section'surrounding it was fenced, but not closely. ■. The flames gained a strong hold.in such a remarkably short time that it was impossible tb do anything to save the big stock of petrol, and hundreds of onlookers who gathered were' able but to stand .helplessly by and watch its rapid destruction. The fire burned fiercely for several hours, and some of the' kerosene was still blazing at 11 o'clock yesterday morning. The dump had been m use for only six months, and the petrol stored there was fully covered by insurance.