£100,000 LOSS IN FACTORY FIRE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22587, 16 March 1948, Page 6

£IOO,OOO LOSS IN FACTORY FIRE

ONE-THIRD HEARDS’ PLANT DESTROYED BRIGADES EFFECT REMARKABLE SAVE (P.A.) AUCKLAND, March 16 Damage estimated by the management at £IOO.OOO was caused by a fire which swept swiftly through the confectionery factory of Heards Ltd., Parnell Road, Parnell, early last evening.

The flames destroyed about onethird of the factory, much stock and valuable machinery, but in a remarkable save the fire brigades that responded to a district call kept the fire out of the rest of the threatened building and also away from at least six old houses that were directly in its path. The factory is L-shapod and the fire began on the ground floor near the junction of the two wings, one of which is of four storeys and the other two. Flames Shoot Through Roof It appeared trifling at first but gained a hold within a few minutes, caught the inflammable contents and wooden floors and was soon raging through the roof. Within half an hour of the alarm being given at 5.31 p.m., thousands who had assembled saw that the flames had spread from the bottom to the roof at the back of the bigger building and had eaten their way half-way along the two-storeyed portion, which had an entrance in Windsor street, and were shooting through the broken windows and lighting (he evening sky. Two brigadesmen. both belonging to the central fire station, were taken to the Auckland Hospital for treatment. They were George Dickson, aged 34. whose left wrist was severely cut., and Louis McNamara, aged 24, whose back was cut by glass. Both were discharged later. Several other brigadesmen suffered from minor cuts, burns and the effects of smoke, but none was seriously hurt and a number of civilians, cut by flying glass, went home after being treated by St. John Ambulance officers on duty at the fire. The dense cloud of smoke brought hundreds of motorists to the fire within a few minutes. Swift Spread of Fire In the early stages it appeared to be a small outbreak centred at the junction of the two factory buildings, but even before the last of the fire trucks had arrived the blaze had spread with amazing speed. Smoke spiralled up in great billows and the crowd drew back as the flames appeared. They swept through the windows while glass fell in tinkling showers, raced along the wooden floors and burst out through the roof at the back of the fourstoreved part of the building. All but one of the 200 employees had left the building when the fire beganIt was discovered at 5.30 by the engineer on duty who called the brigade. Other calls came in from neighbours. The serious nature of the outbreak was immediately realised and, following a district call, eieht lire engines as well as an 87ft. mobile extension ladder end salvage vans, manned by 45 brigadesmen. converged on the factory from the city and suburban stations. Burning Confestioncry The brigadesmen first attacked the fire that was spreading fast through the two-storeyed building and toward the houses hard by. Sheets of fire swept up the concrete walls. Within 20 minutes they were through the main factory roof roaring and crackling as they fed on the inflammable contents. Thev caught the wooden floors, spread to the packing and, as they reached upward, filled the air with a sickly smell of burning sugar, nuts, dates, coconut and other ingredients of confectionery. Thev shot out of the windows carrying the metal frames with them and up through the gaping roof in long tongues 50ft. above the heads of the people who watched tensely. Soon the whole four storeys at the back were ablaze.