GREAT FIRE

Evening Star, Issue 23100, 28 October 1938, Page 8

GREAT FIRE

CITY BUILDING GUTTED DAMAGE NEARLY £I4,ODD INFLAMMABLE FUEL FOR FLAMES ADJOINING PREMISES SAVED Bursting through the roof with such sudden fury that on the prompt arrival of the brigade 60ft flames were searing the sky, fire early this morning completely gutted the two-story building of Thompson’s Crystal Products Ltd., opposite the Rattray street wharf. Raw products, among them 10 50gallon drums of turpentine, several tons of sugar, and soft drink essences, used for the manufacture by the firm of general merchandise, acted as fuel to the blaze, which was the most spectacular here in years. The total damage is estimated at about £14,000. . Only the four brick walls and a heap of black debris and twisted frameworks of the machinery they enclosed remained later this morning. From the moment of the arrival or the fleet of machines there was no hope of saving the building, and the brigade had to work strenuously to save the buildings on either side. This is the second occasion that this one has experienced major fire damage, the upper floor being burnt out in 1929. BRIGADE’S STERN FIGHT. When the night watchman of the Otago Harbour Board gave the first alarm at 2.30 the building was enveloped in flames. It is significant of the rapidity with which they spread that, immediately after, the Central Fire Station received 20 telephone calls and alarms from six street fire boxes. The caretaker of the Sailors’ Rest heard the glass _ of one of the boxes outside this building being broken, and he was one of the first to arrive on the scene. By then the strong south-east wind was fanning the flames, and carrying a shower of sparks past the adjoining buildings for over 300yds. When the machines were racing along Lower High street a wide area was as bright as day, though only three minutes before there was no clue that the building,wag a seething furnace inside. There were three mamachines from the Central Station, and as the crew went srpartly into action the flames were shooting through the front and rear windows, and half the corrugated iron roof had fallen in. Even then there was a real danger of the new waterside workers’ building, owned by the Harbour Board, and also the building of Wilson, Canhan, and Co. Ltd., wool and skin being doomed. Superintendent _ Price ordered the South Dunedin machine to the fire, the Central Station being occupied by the Roslyn Brigade in the event of another fire elsewhere in the city. However, such were the possibilities of the blaze that he put into operation a new system whereby a state of emergency is created, which meant that the Roslyn machine joined in the fight against the fire and the Green Island Brigade proceeded to the Central Station. In addition, two men on holiday leave and three on day leave were brought into service. The full resources of fire-fighting equipment in Dunedin were therefore commissioned. A FURIOUS BLAZE. By 3.15, three-quarters of an hour after it was discovered, the' fire was under control. There were five machines, three from the Central Station, and one each from the South Dunedin and Roslyn stations, to fight it. Fortunately, there was a full pressure of water to hurl at the roaring mass that formed a solid barrier and kept the crew of eight officers and 27 men at a respectful distance. At first two lines of hose were coupled up to 4in mains, and there was an excellent volume of water immediately. Then the powerful Leyland pump, and soon after the Ford pump, commenced to direct three streams or water from the harbour on to the flames, which were now sweeping furiously through the building. The whole sky was lit up, and the flames at one stage could be seen from every part of the city and suburbs. The inferno acted as a beacon, and, despite the lateness of the hour, a crowd of 1(f). kept well away from the blaze by a line of police, saw the destruction being quickly completed.

ADJOINING BUILDING SUFFERS. The direction of the which was carrying a heavy drizzle in a southeasterly direction, fanned the flames and helped them to lick the framework of the next building, Wilson, Canhan, and Company. All the skylights and side windows, numbering about 100, were broken by the_ intense heat, which was so fierce that it cracked the thick concrete wall adjoining Thompson’s from the third story to the foundations. The woodwork of the skylights burst into flame early, and some of the brigade men were on the roof cooling the heated building throughout the blaze, and until it was finally out at 4 o’clock. Even the bitumen on the surface of the roof was bubbling and smoking, until periodic drenchings of water stopped the danger. Damage amounting to several hundreds of pounds has been done to this building, and, in addition, stacks .of sheepskins that were to have been offered at a coming sale were soaked when the water poured down on them. The direction of the flames saved the waterside workers’ modern structure from such damage, though windows were burnt out hy the scorching heat, and the mortar from one wall was pealed off. SCENE OF RUIN. How the fire started js not definitely known, but it is suspected, because one of the doors leading into Thompson s was eaten through, that it had ite origin near the boiler, along the east wall of the building. A curious crowd watched a section of the brigade throughout this morning dousing the last smouldering sparks or the blaze. Among the ashes were bottles that once contained syrups and soft drink essences, tins that held floor and boot polish, and the drums which were mled with turpentine. Many of the members of the brigade were slightly affected by the fumes from cinnamon and other spices, though not sufficiently to keep them from their task. Superintendent Price paid a high' compliment _ this morning to the excellent work of the crew, saying that it was due to his men that damage was not greater. The gutted building and its contents are jointly insured for £II.OOO with the F.A.M.E. Company and Lloyds. THE 1529 FIRE. Two miraculous escapes from death were experienced by two men previous occasion—tbs afternoon of

October 8, 1929—when the Tipper floor of this building was completely gutted. The building was then known as Usher* wood’s, and the fire wascaused through a 40-gallon vat of boiling wool brand fluid exploding near where a young mail was working. He escaped death by, inches. Later, a fireman was completely covered bv the burning roof when it fell in. He was extricated from the wreckage without injury. As in the case of this morning’s blaze there were large quantities of turpentine storedin casks, and they added to the intensity of the fire. 'The turpentine floated round the first floor of the building. The premises of Wilson, Canham, and Co. escaped comparatively lightly compared with the latest fire, an east wind carrying the flames away from tha building.