SPECTACULAR FIRE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 71, 6 March 1933, Page 4

SPECTACULAR FIRE

DAMAGE ABOUT £30,000 DESTRUCTION OF THEATRE. CHURCH IN GRAVE DANGER. The Empire Theatre, one of the largest buildings in Toowoomba, Queensland, was completely gutted by lire on the night of February 22. Phe damage was estimated to be between £25,0110 and £30,000. The ’n-vitinco on the building and contents is £20,000, divided between five conipan.es When the fire reached its peak, the ■•..■ at was -.errific I'l.cies Were -hooting many feet into the air, and the eastern portion of the city was covered with a cloud of heavy back smoke. The blaze could be seen 20 miles away in in the west and south west. Showers of sparks fell on the Methodist Cliur.-h and Sunday School Hill, and on the Masonic Hall building on either side of the blazing theatre. The .Methodist Hull, a wooden building, was for some time ia danger of ignition, as also was the caretaker's cottugj at the rear of the theatre, and a number of houses. The firemen were fu'icd with an almost hopeless task. The supply of watei was inadequate, the jets trmn the hoses going barely half-way up the face of lhe building. A boy who was shooting birds iu tho grounds of St. Stephen-s Presbyterian Church saw a dense olo’i.l .if smoke

coming from the direction of the theatre. Dashing on to the roadway, he saw flames shooting from the roof at the rear of the theatre. He ran a few yards to the lire station and gave lhe alarm, but the blaze had obtained a good hold of the building. The activities of the firemen were considerably hampered by 'J.c crowd which gathered. FUSING OF ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. A theory advanced for the cause of the fire was that it was due to a fusing in tho electrical system near one of the dressing rooms. It is understood that one of the ushers, Miss Horner, went into the dressing room to change into her uniform iu preparation for tho night’s programme. She had to call the caretaker to switch on the lights at the main. She entered the dressing room again, and at that time there was no sigu of fire. After Miss Horner had been in the room about three minutes she noticed clouds of smoko coming from the front portion of the theatre. This would seem to indicate that the fire originated somewhere near the proscenium. Miss Horner rushed back into tho dressing room and saved the uniforms of some of the other ushers. The flames spread rapidly along tho roof of the theatre, and in a few minutes reached tho film room in wnich there were between 18,00'1 and 19,000 feet of films. A minor explosion followed, and the bluish glare of burning celluloid was added to the redder flames of the blazing woodwork. In 25 minutes the flames reached the projection room and there was a sflarp explosion which hurled showers ol sparks skywards and sent back to safety many hundreds of the too adventurous onlookers. In 10 minutes tho projection room collapsed and portions of the machinery went hurtling to the ground floor. BIRDS ROASTED IN TREES. About this time portions of the gallery collapsed and there was an almost continuous crash of falling timbers, both from it and from the blazing roof. Portions of the brick walls showed cracks and for a time it was feared that some sections might collapse. A fireman working at the main gallery entrance was struck on the back by a blazing beam, but he escaped with slight injuries. An attempt was made to play water through the roof of the building by means of the extension ladder, but this idea was quickly abandoned, as the supply of water was insufficient to have the slightest effect.

The wind was in the south-west and the main efforts of the firemen were directed on this portion of tho theatre, with the object of preventing tho spread of the flames to the Methodist Church and other buildings on the northern side. A row of bunya pine trees in the grounds of the Methodist Church caught alight, causing the death of many starlings which had nested there. The damage to the building and contents was estimated at between £25,000 and £30,000. Included in the contents were “talkie” apparatus which cost £6OOO to instill, about 19,000 ft. of film, valued at approximately £3OOO, and a grand piano valued at about £3OO. A refreshment stall in the building was carrying a large stock, all of which was destroyed. The estimated value of this stock was £300,. but it was insured. DRAMATIC EPISODES. There were two dramatic episodes in the efforts to rescue property from tho building. Tho first occurred when a director of the refreshment stall dashed through the smoke and flames and rescued a cash register. The second was when Mr 8. C. Robinson, the managing director of the theatre, made a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to gain access to his office to save papers and official records. Mr Robinson was driven back by the heat and acrid smoke. The Empire Theatre cost between £25,000 nnd £30,000 to build. The original theatre was built in 1911 and in 1928 extensive renovations were made, costing between £6OOO and £7OOO. The theatre had seating capacity of 2500. It was among the first country theatres in Queensland to have “talkie” equipment installed. Several persons were injured in the rush to the fire.