BLAZE AT NEW PLYMOUTH

Hawera Star, Volume L, 26 July 1930, Page 4

BLAZE AT NEW PLYMOUTH

OlTllllrAK AT CENTRAL SCHOOL.

WAMAuE ESTIMATED AT £I3OO. An outoi-eak of lire occurred early lust evening in tue Central bicuioof, iNew kaymoutn, aim resulted, in .damage estimated at about £I3OO. The lire, which apparentjv started. high up in standard \ i. classroom, swept through the rafters, and inability to get at the seat of the, outbreak necessitated a iong and strenuous light on the part qf tne fir© brigade, whose efforts were fully extended for over an hour and a half. T.he classrooms on the north-eastern comer of the. building occupied by Standards 1,5, 3 and 6 are the ones i chiefly affected, and they will need entire replacement in their upper portion. The lower portion caf the wail is practioaVly undamaged except by smoke and water, but nine out of the eleven aoonis in the school have suffered a certain amount of damage through smoke and water, and school books in most of the classrooms have been affected by water. Portions of the school 1 are very old and afford means for a serious outbreak, the part which suffered most damage having been built, in 1884. The school is a large one, accommodating nearly €OO pupils, and about 250 of these are like'iy to sustain more or less serious loss in the the damage to their books by water. On school buildings such as the Central School the Education Department carries its own fire risk and there is no cover amongst the public companies. _ The school gramophone, class libraries and Stratford memorial library were insured through the British Traders with the New Zealand Insurance Comapny, but the loss in this direction was negligible. It is understood that there, is no insurance on the children’s books. A, special meeting of the _ Central School Committee was held this morning. to discuss what immediate steps are to lie taken, and the Taranaki Education Board will probably hold an inquiry on Monday morning into the circumstances surrounding the fire.

Tne need for protection against fire loss is obvious. Consult tlie Mercantile and General Insurance Company, Ltd., Local Agent: E. Hardley, Victoria St., Hawera. ’Phone 2474. —Advt. •