FIRE AT MATAURA

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 December 1940, Page 3

FIRE AT MATAURA

INCENDIARISM SUSPECTED.

[per press association.]

GORE, December 28.

Damage estimated at £5OOO was caused by a fire at Mataura-early this morning, when a large store at the corner of River and Lodge streets, owned by the Mayor of Mataura, Mr C. D. McConnell was -totally destroyed. The building had been used as a store for skins and a large quantity, of paper pulp for New Paper Mills. The contents were lost or severely damaged. The blaze was not seen until 1 a.m., but half an hour later the place was a roaring inferno. The fire brigade succeeded in saving the adjoining buildings. A strong suspicion of incendiarism surrounds the outbreak, which is the seventh in a series since August. Police have been investigating previous fires, and a detective arrived from Invercargill this morning to make further inquiries.

W’GTON FURNITURE FACTORY.

WELLINGTON, December 30.

Billowing smoke shortly after nine o’clock to-day. attracted a large crowd to Boulcott * Street, where the old Masonic Hall,; a lofty pile of ancient timber, occupied for some years past by the Wellington Cabinet Company as a 'factory for furniture and bedding, provided the thrill they were looking for. The fire had a good hold when the firemen got there, and all that cOuld be done was to prevent the spread of the flames to the adjoining residences, old wooden houses that nestled close on all sides except the street frontage. This was successfully accomplished, though some suffered from the effects of water and smoke. Only the shell of the hall now stands, the interior being completely destroyed. Any of the contents not actually burnt are still destroyed. Neither the cause of the fire nor the amount of the loss could be ascertained immediately.