HEAVY LOSSES IN SPECTACULAR FIRE IN AUCKLAND CITY

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 September 1949, Page 3

HEAVY LOSSES IN SPECTACULAR FIRE IN AUCKLAND CITY

AUCKLAND, September 23 (P.A.). ■ —Within an hour, tonight, a spectacular fire completely destroyed the top floor storeroom of the building owned by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., in Fanshawe street.

Fanned by a steady westerly breeze the flames rapidly swept through the large open floor, destroying thousands of pounds worth of general merchandise.

Firemen, who answered a district call, confined the outbreak almost entirely to the top floor and thus prevented a threatened spread to an adjacent building in Albert street, occupied by Alex Harvey and Sons Ltd. Shortly after 9 p.m., calls were received at the fire headquarters from the alarm in Harvey’s premises and from a street alarm box. As the building was in the city fire danger area, a district call was then sent out. Three engines were sent from headquarters, together with two extension ladders, while five other fire stations each sent one machine. When they arrived, the storeroom was ablaze from end to end. and the flames were leaping high in the air through breaks in the corrugated iron roof. Smoke, billowing from the building was carried across lower Queen street, and showers of sparks and glowing embers rode high in a steady breeze. Most of the windows had already been shattered under intense heat, which could be felt for a considerable distance away from the building. —