DISPERSAL TRIAL

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 45, 23 February 1942, Page 7

DISPERSAL TRIAL

CITY BUILDINGS

LITTLE TIME WASTED

The; most difficult, emergency; problem in the mid-city area: is that, of rapidi diSpetfsaTi for- up to> 30j000> people are employed! to> doj business- in this most congested, section of the, cjty. Obviously the problem calls for repeated! trials andi Gkeroieesj Wtiilb> in some sections ofi thp : centra), dispersal area, (as defined; on the dispersal plan map- issued! some days ago) much has been done, in others nr?. effective stant has been made.

The No. 9 area (Railway Station to Bank of New Zealand corner) is one that is well ahead, and this morning, under the direction of, the District Warden, Mr. S. Barnett, more exercises Were carried out, the largest buildings evacuated being the D.I.C. at 9.15 and the Government Buildings at 11 a.m. The D.I.C. was completely evacuated, of staff, tenants, and public, in less than five minutes, and business was resumed promptly after the exercise.

The evacuation of the Government Buildings, involving about 1000 people, was also carried out expeditiously, by using all, stairways and corridors according to an ordered plan. The evacuation of all but building wardens and fire guards and others on essential duty was completed in two minutes, and full dispersal, to areas beyond Hill Street, in three and a halt minutes.

By tomorrow week, said Mr. Barnett today, dispersal exercises will have been held in 60 or 70 buildings in No. 9 area, and the wardens' organisation in that section will be ready to move ahead to the next stage of dispersal, the evacuation of groups of buildings, and the dispersal of large numbers of people simultaneously.

The stages next ahead will be the dispersal of all but E.P.S. personnel, police, and fire services from a combination of groups, leading to full block evacuation, and actual dispersal through street and* emergency exit ways.