A GREAT FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 43, 19 August 1941, Page 8

A GREAT FIRE

AUCKLAND WAREHOUSE

THRILLING RESCUES

JUMPS INTO SHEET

(P.A.) AUCKLAND. This Day. One of the fiercest fires in the history of Auckland developed about 8.15 this morning in the large three-storeyed warehouse of John Burns ..< d Co., Ltd., fronting Customs Street and extending some . distance along Commerce Street and through to Fort Street Lane. No sooner had the large staff taken up its usual positions in the building than men and women were seen emerging from windows on the second and third storeys and the roof on to the parapets, against a background of dense smoke, followed almost immediately by great volumes of flame.

While some of tKe staff climbed around the parapets to adjoining buildings, others, were rescued by jumping from second-storey windows into a tarpaulin which was held by firemen on the roof of a Customs Street verandah. A middle-aged woman, on the second [storey, hesitated for..a,long time, but eventually jumped into the tarpaulin. Still earlier ladders had been rushed from the neighbouring warehouses to rescue others from two sides of the building. Cheers greeted the rescue efforts, and when a man on the top storey in Customs Street was brought down a telescopic ladder by firemen the crowd of several thousands cheered to the echo. | FULL FIRE-FIGHTING STRENGTH. The city fire engines which arrived first were joined from time to time by suburban engines, until the full fire- | fighting force, including auxiliary fireimen, were engaged in a tremendous battle against the flames. The heat was.so great that about 9.15 Nathan's Buildings and the building of Bond i and Bond opposite, in Commerce Street, caught alight, and some of the firemen had to divert their efforts until these outbreaks were subdued, without causing much damage. Meanwhile, the main battle con- ! tinued. * The police moved the crowds further and further back from the blazing building, from which the crackle of what sounded like small arms ammunition was continually heard, and at 9.45 there were several loud explosions, causing the firemen to draw back. At 10.15 the flames were still leaping high above the south-west corner of the building, and several leads of hose were operating in Customs Street and Fort Street. A DESPERATE VENTURE. ! The most thrilling rescue seen by the onlookers was that of the man who was brought to safety last of all those trapped,on the top floor. He first appeared at a window on the Customs Street frontage, and it was obvious that the flames gave him no chance of reaching the western side of the block, from which some other members of the staff had been rescued. The heat drove him on to the windowsill, and an unsuccessful attempt was i made to reach him with a ladder from a verandah. By the time the brigadesmen had raised the telescopic ladder he was frequently hidden from view by dense smoke. The ladder failed Dy several feet to reach the window, and preparations, were made.on the verandah roof for him to make a long jump into a tarpaulin. For some minutes it appeared impossible that the man could be got down the ladder, and the spectators expected him to collapse Eventually a second fireman climbed the ladder and joined his companion who was endeavouring to bring the man to safety. TRAGEDY AVERTED. Acting under the directions of the firemen the man worked his way from the sill down the face of the building to the top of the ladder where ne was supported by the urigadesmen as his feet reached the top rung, and the onlookers realised that tragedy had been averted and burst into loud cheers. One man was helped down the lad- | ider and on reaching the verandah J ! roof was in a state of collapse, and it j was some time before he reached the ! street. Then, with several Others, he was taken away by an ambulance. QUICKLY UNDER CONTROL. The fire was fully under control by 10 30 a.m., but firemen worked around the building until after mid-| SThere are about 175 members of the staff of John Burns, Ltd., which nrm dates from 1882. All the staff, except about 40 typists and others, had started work Those on the ground floor were startled by a blinding flash and explosion, which seemed to come from the electrical switchboard near the passenger lift. With amazing rapid-, ity flames shot up the lift well to the second and top floors, where much highly inflammable material was stored, including paints and varnishes, and the employees on the top floors] found . themselves trapped. Meanwhile the caretaker broke the automatic alarm, bringing the fire engines to the scene. Ambulances also arrived promptly. People proceeding to work assembled in thousands and saw reinforcements of police, auxiliary fire police, and Emergency Precautions Scheme workers go into action. Hoses were operated from streets over a wide area. Among the earliest resjcuers were six members of the "Star" staff, with extension ladders. Admiration was expressed for the coolness of the first six girls who crawled along the parapets to these ladders, followed by fourteen men. THE CASUALTIES. The man who was rescued by the [telescopic ladder was Robert McWhirter, aged 30, a traveller. He is suffering from acute bronchial distress, but his condition is favourable. Two 'others were admitted to hospital:— Francis Harold Baker, chief cashier, suffering from concussion and probable fracture of the base of the skull, j unconscious and condition serious; j Miss Stella Young, burns on the face and hands, condition fair. The following were treated in a casualty ward: Lewis Goldwater, cuts |on the left hand; Thomas Farrow (Hirst, contusions to the left elbow and shock; David Michael Claret, burns on the right hand; and Arthur Cooper, a small scalp wound. The insurances on the building, held in the Queensland Company, are not yet available.