THE LATE FIRES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5603, 8 February 1879, Page 6

THE LATE FIRES.

In the account of the eerioua fire in Lichfield street,: ’which. was published in our; /chimps yesterday, reference was made to the length pf time during which the firemen had towork. As it turned out, thej were not able tojeaye until seren o’clock yesterday morning, .jtaviogthua been 13 hours on duty, and even .then a detachment had speedily to return, so that! the process of cooling the immense mass .ought bp proceeded with. For this work an engine was stationed at the large Tuam street tank, but the efforts of the men were only intermittent, since, they had frequently to wait for an aocumuln' ion of -water. Later in the (Jay, Superintendent Harris devised the plan of taking the encino into thajard at the rear of the rains, so that he might Sent* and use again, the water with the cellar had been flooded. The urgent need there is for an efficient wafer supply for fire pretention purposes, has thus been once more strikingly demonstrated, Jfrom the statements which were made at-the time of the fire, it appeared that the outbreak had occurred .on the ground floor at the south-east corner, a part of the building, which;was in the occupation of Mr Saunders. From subsequent inquiries, however, and from.-a'-oateful examination of (ho ruins, it seems more probable that the fire originated on the upper floor, which was occupied by Messrs Bargood, Son,! and Bwen, on the western side, and at a point two-thirds of the distance horn front to bade. At this point packing of drapery goods was done, and it is otated (hat-there was generally a moderately large amount of packing paper lying there. jk match thrown down as a person was leaving would of course be - sufficient to account fog the fire, and from the openness Of the structure, and the. inflammable nature of the building and its contents, the fire .would spread, with immense rapidity. This particular portion of the flooring burned through, while on either side the boards were only charred, and tho fireman who was first at the Lichfield street station, before any flame was visible, fancied, for the moment that the smoke was issuing from the Urigad e station itself. Superintendent Harris bipresses himsielf as confident (hat the fire origirarttd as.now stated, • INSURANCES ON THE LATE FIRES. We have been courteously, furnished with correct information relatiye to the amounts of insurances in "connection with the fires in Lichfield and Cashel streets, showing the extent to which the various Insurance Compiuiiea are involved. The list js as follows: — Colccia],- £1000; Norwich Union, £IOOO j New Zealand, £3000; Union, £1500; South British, £3OOO ; London and Lancashire, £1500; Standard, £2000; Liverpool, London and Globe, £1000; National, £2OOO ; Commercial Union, ,£IOOO, In cellar-—London-and Lancashire, £250; Standard, £1000: Transatlantic, £1000; Northern,£soo; grand total, £19,750. The only salvage; obtainable* will be-from the stock in the cellar, which may perhaps prove to be comparatively uninjured. ' MCssrs Twentyman and Cousins’ fire, on building' and* South British £750, and Colomal £750: total, £ISOO.