DANGEROUS FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 149, 21 December 1945, Page 8

DANGEROUS FIRE

MORNING ALARM

HAINING ST. THREATENED

A threatened major fire disaster in the Te Aro flat area early this morning was prevented only by the unusual absence of wind and the fire-fighting skill of the fire brigade. The outbreak occurred/in the yards of Messrs. M. .G. Templeton and Sons, building coritractoß's, Sage's Lane, which are bounded on all sides by very old wooden dwelling houses, many occupied by Asiatics or used as store premises. Barr-Brown's timber yard in Haining Street is also in dangerous proximity.

The alarm was given at 3.6 a.m.,. and the crew of the first machine ;to arrive attacked the flames through the rear entrance to the.premises in Haining Street. Subsequent engines,, six more from Central Station, two from Constable Street, and others from Thorndon, Brooklyn, and Miramar, surrounded the yards, and ran in their leads from hydrants in Taranaki Street, Tory Street, and Haining Street. These tactics effectively prevented the flames from leaping the very small distance to some of the neighbouring buildings, but a fire brigade officer said later that the checking would not have been so easy had there been any wind at th% time. Tne burning stacks of timber were particularly difficult to extinguish. A motor-truck parked near one stack caught fire but was pushed clear by firemen and eventually saved, although the coachwork was damaged. . The outbreak was finally extinguished after 60 men, under Superintendent C. A. Woolley, had worked for three hours. The men were particularly grateful to neighbouring . residents who brought them tea and coffee while they were on the job. THREE MONTHS' DELAY. The buildings involved, a two-floored joinery shop, and a store fronting Haining Street,1 were almost gutted.. However, men of the salvage section were still at work this morning, oiling partially damaged machinery to prevent water damage, and it is thought that.as a result of their efforts most of the plant will be repairable. The firm estimates, however, that it will be more than three months after the holidays , before the factory will be producing joinery again. The loss of the factory is particularly serious as the firm holds contracts for the'construction of a number of Government houses, and quantities of completed joinery work for these houses were lost. In addition, it appears at present that between 20,000 and 25,000 feet of seasoned hard totara and redwood, and; quantities of plywood, have been lost or damaged almost to the point of uselessness. Owing to the shortage of timber, it is impossible to value this loss. The amount is insurance on the stock and premises is not available.