LOWER HUTT FIRE

Evening Post, Issue 86, 8 October 1936, Page 8

LOWER HUTT FIRE

TANNERY BADLY DAMAGED

The boiler room and the drying room of Taye's Tanneries, off Rand- ! wick Road, Lower Hutt, were destroyed by fire at 9.30 p.m. yesterday. Owing to the burning of some 400 motor-car tyres the fire blazed fiercely and large quantities of smoke made the work of the fire brigade difficult. The Lower Hutt Fire Brigade, which received the call about 9.30 p.m., were on the scene in a'few minutes, but found that the roofvof the building had already fallen in and the tyres in the drying room well alight. In order to reach the fire, 1350 feet of hose had to be run out. ,

The superintendent of the brigade, Mr. T. W. Slinn, states that from the time the call was received to the time when water was playing on the fire only about 12 minutes elapsed. The fire was confined to the boiler and drying rooms, although for a time it appeared that the blaze might spread and Burkes scouring works over the right-of-way might be endangered.

The building is owned by Mr. R. G. Buckleton and was leased to Taye's Tanneries, of which Mr. Buckleton is a director. Mr. Buckleton assesses the damage to the building at approximately £600, stock £160, and plant £200. The stocks are fully covered by insurance, and the plant and building partly covered.