THE LATE FIRE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LX, Issue LX, 29 December 1910, Page 4

THE LATE FIRE.

In connection with the recent fire we hope the Borough Council will make due enquiry into the cause of the shortage of water at the time when it was most needed and could have been employed to the greatest advantage. The sequel showed that there was very good pressure subsequently, when it was too late. It is obvious that had the supply been cut off from -the sewage pumps and from part of the western side of the town, as it is expected to be cut off on emergency, the brigade would have been able to deal with the outbreak effectively quite twenty minutes earlier. Twenty minutes, it is needless to say, is an important lapse of time in the early stages of a fire. The public want to know why this delay occurred, but, more important still, what can be done to ensure that . there shall not be liability to repetition of it. The town is paying cheerfully for a fire fighting water supply, but it expects that it shall be available instantly when it is needed, and the experience on Sunday morning suggests that more complete precautions are required. The Borough Council, we are sure, will quite realise that the matter is of so much importance .that no time should be lost in revising, and, if necessary, strengthening present arrangements for immediately concentrating the full force of the water supply upon the area within which a fire has been discovered.