FIRE CAUSES £100,000 DAMAGE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22586, 15 March 1948, Page 5

FIRE CAUSES £IOO,OOO DAMAGE

HOBART WHARF & GOODS SHEDS BURNED (M.2.P. A.—Reuter— Copyrigtit.) (11.30 a.m.) HOBART, March 15. Damage estimated at well over £IOO,OOO was caused by a fire which destroyed the greater part of Ocean Pier and adjacent buildings. It is described as Hobart’s worst outbreak.

Ocean Pier was built 30 years ago at a cost of £IOO,OOO. A nearby storage shed, which was completely destroyed, contained apples valued at £50,000, consigned to the British Ministry of Food. Every available fireman was rushed to the "scene for a long battle to prevent the flames from spreading to sheds including one stacked with newsprint. One shed containing bitumen was burned, but others were saved. Early this morning the firemen succeeded in cutting a five-yard break through the pier in order to prevent the spread of the fire. Earlier. 10 firemen who were working on the under-structure had a narrow escape when a shed on the pier caved in and crashed into the water. The flames continued along the understructure and the only way to prevent another shed from burning was to cut the pier. Thousands of sightseers watched from three wharves at the pier and at one stage had to be driven back with fire hoses.