INTO CAUSTIC PIT

Evening Star, Issue 22723, 10 August 1937, Page 1

INTO CAUSTIC PIT

FIREMAN'S AGONISING EXPERIENCE SPECTACULAR SYDNEY BLAZE At least 20 firemen were injured, one of them severely, and damage estimated at £85,000 was done in the fire which destroyed the greater ipart or the works of Australian Soaps Ltd. in Sydney last week. . . One of the firemen received his injuries when, in the darkness, he fell into a pit of caustic. The fiery liquid burned his flesh wherever it was exposed, but his heavy clothing and boots saved him from more serious injury. He managed to clamber out, and in his agony stripped away most of his clothing. Officers at once sent him to hospital. Fortunately the caustic was in a. dilute form, and corrosive action uas note serious. ■ . Nearly all the other firemen received their injuries in fighting the fire at close quarters. Some of them had advanced into heat which it seemed no living creature could endure, with no protection except the jets of water their companions played upon them. Few of them had time to ask for treatment until hours after their injuries were received. The heat was so intense that it took away the hair from exposed portions of their faces and hands.

Firemen used their newest and most costly weapon, foam, and achieved spectacular success with it. Canisters of powder were clamped to the nozzles of the hoses, which shot out, instead of water, streams of soap bubbles at the rate of 500 gallons a minute, and the foam slowly smothered the flame. More than 100 firemen fought the outbreak. They had to endure intense heat, which blistered the skin from their hands and faces, and also to run the hazards imposed by showers of blazing oil. noxious fumes, explosions, collapsing buildings, and rivers of hot fat, which made certain areas so slippery that they were a danger to life. The fire, which was the most serious in Sydney for several years, will throw out of work several hundred employees. The cause is unknown. The fire was one of the most spectacular ever seen in Sydney. Great blasts of flame and smoke soared high into the air. The dull roar of the firo was punctuated by sharp explosions, apparently from exploding drums. The figures of the firemen could be seen in sharp relief against a background of livid flame.

The fire could be seen from nearly all the higher suburbs, including the heights of Manly and even Wahroonga. Thousands of persons flocked to see it. The prompt action of police officials, who called in reserves from miles around, averted a serious traffic problem. As it was, the police often had the greyest difficulty in inducing the ct'O’.v dv 10 he p out of danger and to