£200,000 DAMAGE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20639, 20 August 1941, Page 4

£200,000 DAMAGE

AUCKLAND FIRE 14 PERSONS INJURED WOMAN'S GRAPHIC STORY (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day, Fourteen persons were injured, one seriously, and damage approaching £200,000 was done in the fire which yesterday morning gutted the premises of John Burns and Company, Limited, at the corner of Customs street east and Commerce street. Two of the three storeys were completely burned out, and extensive damage was caused on the first and ground floors. Breaking out shortly before 8.30 a.m. and spreading with lightning speed, the lire gained a tremendous hold within a few minutes. Most of the staff, which numbered 175, were already in the shop, and a number of them on the upper floors found themselves trapped. Flames were bursting up the lift well, which adjoined the staircase, and escape by that way was impossible. A small number of employees were torced out of the windows on to iiie narrow parapet on the third floor and were only rescued with great difficulty and in the nick of time. The fire quickly grew so big that the central brigade issued what is known as a brigade call, the first for some years, which brought the metropolitan system of fire brigades into immediate operation. Many thousands of people arriving in the city crowded the nearby streets and hundreds ol others gained vantage points in the surrounding buildings and watched the firemen engaged in one of the most difficult jobs they have had for years. Blistering Heat The heat was of a blistering nature, and the premises of Bond and Bond, Limited, on the opposite side of Commerce street, were threatened when the window-sills caught alight, out this building and also L. D. Nathan s next door, were saved mainly by the oflorts of those inside. It is believed that the fire originated from the electrical switchboard on the ground floor near the passenger litt. The flames shot up the lift well to the floors above, where highly inflammable material was stored, and this accounted for the intensity of the blaze and the rapid spread of the flames. The insurances are held by the Queensland Fire Insurance Company, and the approximate insurance on the stocks is £120,000, and that on the buildings is roughly £50,000. It is estimated that the total of these amounts is much below the actual value of the stock and buildings. "The amount of stock we were carrying was so great that it is impossible to make even a rough estimate of the total damage,’’ said Mr. George Morton Smith, manager of John Burns and Company, Limited, when seen yesterday afternoon. Fie hoped it would be possible to start assessing the damage to-day. The greatest loss, he considered, would be suffered by the public through the difficulty of replacing the stock, much of which had been urgently needed. Exciting Story

An exciting story of a tragedy narrowly averted was told by Mrs. Eric Waters, Epsom, an early customer, who, with two men and a girl, was trapped by the fire on the top floor, Mrs. Waters and her companions jumped to safety in a tarpaulin held off the verandah by employees of the firm and other helpers. None was seriously hurt, although Mrs. Waters bruised an elbow and was suffering from slight shock. “When the alarm went, I dropped my purse and ran for the stairs,” Mrs. Waters said, "but the smoke was coming up so thickly that it was obviously impossible to get out that way, and we went to the windows. W T e sat on the window ledges, with smoke pouring out over us, and called for help. I thought the man beside me would suffocate, but he kept his head clear by bending out over the street. There was a boy sitting on the next ledge, and he kept his head wonderfully well,” Mrs. Waters added. “He held on to the girl beside him and looked after her. There seemed to be people at every window.” Mrs. Waters said it looked as if most of those who were on the top floors and roof had been unable to reach the ground floor. She lost her purse containing petrol coupons and a considerable sum of money. Fourteen persons, seven of them firemen and one woman clerk, were injured in the fire, and three were later admitted to the Auckland Hospital. Fall On To Roadway One of them, Francis Harold Baker, cashier, married, aged 47, Devonport, is in a serious condition, suffering from concussion and a probable fracture of the base of the skull. Mr. Baker was injured when he fell from the verandah to the roadway after escaping from the burning building. Rescued after he had been hanging precariously by his hands between the two windows, Mr. Robert Gray McWhirter was admitted to the hospital suffering from acute bronchial distress. A commercial traveller, Mr. McWhirter is a married man, aged 44, who lives at Ponsonby. He recovered rapidly after treatment and his condition was not serious. Burns to the face and hands Were suffered by Miss Stella Young, a clerk, aged 33, Takapuna, before she could escape from the building. Her condition was fairly serious. Four firemen from the central fire station received injuries needing hospital treatment while fighting the fire. They were Messrs. L. Abbott, T. Cooper, S. Irvine, and H. Lunn. Four other persons were treated at the casualty ward. Altogether seven firemen were hurt in various degrees. Some received cuts from falling glass, requiring two or three stitches, and others suffered bruises, sprains and scorched faces and hands The men who were detailed to keep a lead of hose going in the basement throughout the fire endured a great deal from the thick smoke which affected their eyes.