CRACKERS ON FIRE

Evening Star, Issue 22880, 11 February 1938, Page 3

CRACKERS ON FIRE

£IO,OOO DAMAGE IN STORE When a box of crackers in the toy department of Nock and Kirby Ltd., Sydney, caught fire last week, damage estimated at £IO,OOO was done to stock. How the crackers caught fire is not known, but the fire which followed started five automatic sprinklers, from which water poured at the rate of 250 gallons a minute for 20 minutes. Water seeped through to the floors below, doing damage to stock estimated by the firm at £IO,OOO. The detonations from the crackers and the smoke which the fireworks sent up caused great excitement among 40 cf the staff on the fourth floor, where the fire occurred, and many customers in the shop on all floors to the ground level became alarmed when they saw water pouring down. In a few minutes the explosions were said to resemble many machine-guns, and, although attempts were made to check the fire, the crackers were soon blazing, and flames were ascending to the roof. Some of the girl employees showed signs of hysteria, but, with the customers, they were escorted to the floors below. The fire brigade was _ soon at the building, but it took 20 minutes to turn off the water from the sprinklers, and by this time it had soaked to the floors below, saturating valuable tools, furniture, cutlery, clocks, drapery, and bedding. A stream of water cascaded down the goods lift well and did much damage to stock on the ground floor.