DISASTROUS FIRE AT SUNNYSIDE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXX, Issue 8627, 31 October 1888, Page 3

DISASTROUS FIRE AT SUNNYSIDE.

About 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct.'l7, a fire broke out at the Lunatic Asylum, Sunny- ■ side. The information was sent to the Fire Brigade Station at Christchurch by telephone, and at five minutes to eleven the bell rang out an alarm. There was not so much belay in getting the engines away as there had been bn the previous day, the Deluge and the chemical engine i leaving the station in five and seven minutes respectively. Mr Harris, Fire Inspector, ! went out with the chemical engine. On ! arriving at Sunnyside, a startling [ sight presented itself. Almost in the j centre of the western wing of the large i concrete block, in the female department, ■ was a body of fire which, it was evident, :it would ho very difficult to cope with. It ■ had broken out in one of the wards, in the older portion of the premises. Fortunately there had been time to put all the inmates in safety. The Deluge was placed at the river " Junction,” on the road to Eiccarton ; and at twentyfive minutes past eleven a jet was playing on the flames. Another jet was , soon brought into action, and the firemen : displayed the greatest intrepidity in climbi ing the burning roof and pointing the : branches. Notwithstanding their pluck : and energy, the flames held their own, and in a few minutes the ward and two adjoining gables were in ruins, and the stiff North-east breeze was carrying the ’ flames along the wing. A telephone i message was sent for the Extinguisher and [ the railway engine, but they were long waited for in vain, A considerable portion of the contents of the building were got out soon after the alarm, and at twenty minutes to twei/d a cry was raised for volunteers to save bedding. Plenty of hands appeared to be forthcoming, and a large quantity of stuff was rescued by their means. At ten minutes to twelve, the railway engine 1 appeared on the scene, and was placed at , the underground tank in front of the South side of the building. Two branches were soon brought to bear on the fire. Precisely at noon the steamer Extinguisher arrived. A SERIOUS OUTLOOK. By this time the aspect of affairs was very serious, the fire travelling along the wing in both directions and threatening the destruction of the entire building. The wind, too, seemed increasing In strength, and the single jet at each end of the fire, which was all that could fce brought to bear hitherto, was utterly powerless to check the conflagration. At five minutes past twelve the railway engine got water on. Meanwhile the Extinguisher had been taken to the river. By twenty minutes past twelve the upper portion of the western wing had gone beyond recall. The flames were bursting from every point, and travelling rapidly beyond the place at which the Brigade’s attack was made. At twenty-five minutes past twelve the Extinguisher got to work again (a delay having been occasioned by the bursting of a length of hose) and played on the fire. The largo hall of the Asylum, which lies on the East of the burning wing, was threatened with destruction for a considerable time; but by half-past twelve tbe efforts of the firemen had so far prevailed that it was safe, though scorched on the western side. The firemen. of the two Brigades were reinforced by a strong party of men from the Addington workshops, who, under Mr Scott, their Locomotive Superintendent, i rendered good service. Mr Scott also had a number of tarpaulins brought up to cover the organ in the large hall in order to protect it from damage. It was found, however, that there was no necessity to use them, as the only damage done to the hall was the breaking of a few windows. The organ was not hurt. Very shortly afterwards—by half-past twelve—it was evident that the hall would be saved. It was the key to the position, and the attack made by the fire was very ugly, some windows in the clerestory being fractured by the intense heat. Large masses of plate glass came down, to the great danger of men working on the floor below.

By a quarter to one the flames had nearly all disappeared from the view of the throngs of spectators who were congregated outside, but volumes of smoke arose from the blackened and gutted building, and showed that the streams of water still being poured from the engines were needed. When the fire approached the end of the western wing, a party of men who were engaged in saving the furniture were cut off by the flames. A ladder was, however, brought, and placed against a window, through which they got out in safety. THE ORIGIN OP THE PIEE. It is stated that a defective chimney was the cause of the fire. This chimney caught fire about 8.30 a.m., but the flames were supposed to have been extinguished. Some sparks, however, must have lingered. Mr Patrick William Foley, a plasterer, who was at work on the Medical Superintendent’s house, states that his attention was called at a little after nine o’clock to volumes of thick black smoko issuing from the chimney in the gable of an attic above B and C wards. At first he thought there was nothing worse than a chimney on fire, but about ten o’clock he noticed that the smoke was increasing in volume, and was issuing from a second flue. He then gave the alarm, and renewed efforts were made by the attendants to extinguish the flames. These proving unsuccessful, the telephone was used to convey the alarm to Christchurch. Now that the gable wall is exposed to view, the fact is revealed that the ridge pole of the gable had been let into the chimney. Fires had been burning in the rooms on the ground and first floors communicating with the chimney, but there was no fireplace in the attic, where the flames were first noticed. This would indicate that the fire had come through the chimney wall by means of the ridge pole, which possibly bad been smouldering for some time. No doubt there was a strong upward draught through the high chimney, and this would be increased by the stiff Nor’-easter. NO INSURANCE. In June, 1887, the Minister for Public Works wrote to the Secretary of the Canterbury Fire Insurance Association, requesting to be furnished with a price for insuring various Government buildings in and near Christchurch, and asking' the Secretary to communicate on the subject with offices not belonging to the Association, that they might have an opportunity of tendering. In this letter the value of the Lunatic Asylum, Sunnyside, was put down as £67,000, and the sum for which the Government proposed to insure it was £62,000. The Association considered the matter, and offered to insure the Asylum for a premium of eight shillings per cent, so long as the attics were used as dormitories. The offer was not accepted, and the buildings remained uninsured. THE PATIENTS. Naturally the patients are the source of moat terrible anxiety when a fire occurs at a lunatic asylum. It is satisfactory to relate that in this instance no panic occurred, and that the poor distraught folk (numbering about a hundred and fifty) were got safely away without mishap. The women were safely stowed in the laundry across the lawn, as well as the invalids. The men’s ward was not attacked. In the confusion and excitement the head attendant was in great uncertainty as to the fate of all. Two were missing for a time, but at last complete assurance came of the safety of every one. This fortunate result is due to the cool, unselfish way in which the attendants, particularly the women, did their duty at a trying time, in face of the disturbing fact that several of them had lost their all . Arrangements have been made for temporarily housing the female patients in the Old Immigration Barracks at Addington. People living in the neighbourhood were also prompt in their offers of assistance, and plenty of accommodation was ready and waiting for them. TIMELY AID. The police are grateful to the public for the aid which was given them. Volunteers were ready for any duty, and Mr E.J.J3cott> with his : detachment of men

from Addington, effected great things by reason of their readiness, and the skilful manner in which their efforts were directed.

There is no doubt tbe Fire Brigades worked bravely in endeavouring to get at the heart of the fire, surrounded by the danger of falling timbers, collapsing walls, or riddled flooring; and the cool manner in which they carried on their duties is worthy of high praise. To the workmanlike direction of Inspector Harris much of this credit is due. Mr E. W. Seager’s knowledge of the premises, and practical, business-like suggestions to the Fire Brigade and volunteers who assembled to assist, were of the greatest value to all concerned, and reflect the highest credit on that gentleman. Mrs Scager’s experience with the female patients and knowledge of their idiosyncrasies enabled her to give a word or two to them with reassuring and quieting influence. DEFICIENCIES. The arrangements for fire prevention appear to have been of the most wretched order. There is a hand fire engine at the Asylum, but it is about as powerful as a boy’s squirt, and no faith was placed in its performance—no use was made of it. The fire boxes were not of much greater service. One was discovered to be full of blacking. Another was empty but locked beyond the possibility of opening, and keyless. That the defectiveness of the arrangements for fire prevention was not discovered for the first time yesterday appears from the remarks made by Dr Macgregor in his reports to the Government. Under date June 5, 1886, he says:—" I made a careful examination of the fire extinguisaing apparatus, and had ‘ fire drill ’ both on the male and female side. The result was very impressive, confirming in every respect the condemnation so freely expressed in the official reports of Colonel Lean, the Deputy Inspector.” And under date Dec. 14 last, he says:—"The most urgent wants at present are the effecting of proper precautions against fire, so often urged by the vigilant Deputy Inspector, Colonel Lean.”

The following is a rough plan of the portion of the building which has been partially destroyed. It really comprises the whole of the female division of the Asylum:—

The whole of the upper portion of the female department is burned out—the roofing, windows, doors, &c., consumed, while the upper floor is in most places destroyed. The damage to the lower flat is mostly by water. The portions burned or otherwise damaged are known as Wards A, E, C, D. The Administrative Block, Dey’s contract, which was opened this year, has escaped, with the exception of a new dormitory on the female aide. The female attendants’ dining-room is gutted. The beautiful hall, which was only recently opened, has escaped with a soaking, and the organ therein, built by Mr Seager and his brother, has escaped uninjured. All the furniture in the lower portion of the building was got out and stacked, but everything in the upper portion of the building was destroyed, and the female attendants are reported to have lost most of their clothing and belongings. A few things out of the upper portion of Ward A were, however, salvaged. It is to the credit of the Gas Company’s men that they were the first to arrive from the town, and turned oil 1 the gas from the endangered portion of the buildings. It is said that ten 400-gallon watertanka, which used to stand in the tower, where the fire originated, and which were designed for fire-prevention purposes, have been removed, as also eight tanks of similar capacity in the first portion of that wing built. This, however, is not authenticated. The value of the part of the buildings burned is variously estimated, bub it is probably little less than .£20,000. INSPECTOR HARRIS’ ACCOUNT. Inspector Harris states that news of the fire first came to Christchurch by a telephonic communication being sent to the establishment of Messrs Ballantyne and Co. at 10.50 a.m. It was sent there in order to reach Superintendent Turton, who, however, was out at the time. Mr J. Ballantyne lost no time in communicating with Mr Harris, who immediately took a cab to the Fire Brigade Station. On learning that the fire was in the new buildings at the Sunnyside Asylum, he at once ordered out the chemical and Deluge engines, believing that in such an apparently substantial building, the one steam engine would be ample for anything the Brigade would have to cope with. The horses, as usual, were dreadfully scattered; for instance, one of the horses which do duty with the chemical was at the junction of Antigua street with the South belt. In spite, however, of the delay necessarily caused by the time taken in bringing the horses together, Mr Harris arrived with the chemical engine at the Asylum at 11.20 a.m., passing the Deluge on the way. The Inspector at once saw that the fire was an exceedingly serious one, and discarded the chemical as, under the circumstances, useless. All hands were ordered to the Deluge, and at the same time a telephone message was sent for the railway engine, the Dreadnought. Superintendent Turton arrived shortly afterwards, and a message was despatched for the steamer Extinguisher to be sent up. DEFECTS POINTED OUT, A very important matter was now referred to by Mr Harris, who said, “ Some years ago I visited the Asylum with Colonel Lean for the purpose of inspecting the buildings from the fire prevention standpoint. A number of very serious defects were pointed out. Amongst these were the following In the roof there are a series of tanks, the pipes from which lead to the various wards, but these pipes are exceedingly small, so that when the hose was attached there was no pressure.” (Prom another informant we learn that the pipes were one inch in diameter and the hose two inches, bo that .the water came in noth-

ing better than a dribble.) " Again,” continued Mr Harris, " there was the construction of the roof. Tbe female ward is from 200 ft to 300 ft long, and the shape of the roof is that of an inverted V (A.) In the building the separating walls are carried up at intervals from the ground to the attic, but terminate at a distance from the apex of the roof so as to resemble the upper portion of the letter A. You will see at once that this formed an enormous fire flue from end to end of the building. This was our trouble. To deal with it we had to cut apertures through the iron roof, and the men of the Brigade, of course under extreme difficulty, directed the nozzles of their hose through these openings. HEROIC WORK, Finding that the fire was gaining on us, we at last cut openings upwards through one of the ceilings, and the men were plucky enough to go through into the open part of the roof and deal with the fire from there. I should say here that a number of the Railway Fire Brigade men are to be included in what I am telling you about the splendid behaviour of the men, for they did really grand work. Man after man had to drop away from this position, the heat and smoke being intolerable. To give you an idea cf the pluck shown, I may tell you that one of our men who was perched up there with a branch, sang out to me: c lt is impossible for mo to stand this without something over my face.’ I managed to pass up to him a handkerchief, and after he had fastened this over his mouth and nostrils, he went on with his work for an almost incredible time. ANOTHER DEFECT. “ As a further illustration of the defective construction of the building, I may point out to you that a window and door at the end of this long corridored building communicated directly with the fine central hall, so that there was absolutely complete fire-communication the whole way. THE RAILWAY ENGINE. "When Mr Scott came on to the ground he was able to say that there was a great underground tank in the yard of the new portion of the building; and it was at this tank that the railway engine was stationed. This engine was required principally for cooling down, and the service performed by it was invaluable. Ihere was one curious circumstance in connection with it. When the water began to fail in this tank, Mr Scott laid a length of hose so as to bring the water from one of the series of tanks in the roof into the underground tank, in order to enable the engine to continue its work, —but the tanks were empty! DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. The concrete part of the Asylum, the extreme western wing, the A and B wards of the female divisiou, was erected about sixteen years ago by Mr S. H. Seager from designs by Mr B. W. Mountfort. It was of two storeys, and about 120i f t in length and some 30ft in width. It forms the extrema western portion of the wing which was injured by the lire, and was the first concrete building of so large a size erected in New Zealand. Adjoining it on tbe East is a more recent structure, of brick, which was built by Mr Connbn, from Mr Mountfort’s designs, about thirteen years ago. It was of two storeys, and comprised C and D wards, and was 120 ft in length and 26ft wide. In this part of the premises the fire broke out. The next portion to the eastward is of brick, and was built under plans prepared by the Public Works Department, by Mr Peter Dey, who finished it a few months ago. It includes the central hall, two galleries with dormitories for male and female patients, attendants’ dining-rooms, kitchen, bakehouse, engine-house, cook’s living rooms and general stores. The central hall, which runs across the building, nearly North and South, is about 120.1 t long and 60ft in width, and is provided with a stage 30ffc in depth and 60ft wide. In this hall is the organ, built by Messrs E. W. and S. H. Seager. The wing lying to the eastward of the hall, and occupied by the male patients, was built by Mr D. Reese in 1880, from designs by Mr T. Cane. It is constructed of brick.

The fire r.-aa confined solely to the women’s division, stopping eastward at the central hall, and burning itself out at the western end. The wall at this end is cracked by the are from the summit to the first floor. The other walls, both brick and concrete, appear to be uninjured. FIRE PREVENTION APPLIANCES.

In the concrete block of the female division there were four 400-gallon tanks of water, over A ward. In the brick portion, over C ward, there were six 400-gallon tanks. In each of the two towers of the male division are twelve 400-gallon tanks, and in the smaller tower of the same section arc six tanks of the same size. The underground tank has a capacity of upwards of 10,000 gallons. The fire boxes contained each about 50ft of canvas Lose, with a nozzle and connection for screwing on to the downfall pipes from the tanks oa the roof. It hud been proved that these appliances were not of much service, as the water would not rise in the hose higher than the first storey, in consequence of the low pressure, which was, it is said, weak, owing to the comparatively small size of the down-pipes.