CHRISTCHURCH FIRE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 151, 27 May 1938, Page 9

CHRISTCHURCH FIRE

REQUEST FOR INQUIRY. POINTS TO ISSUE. ' Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH. May 26. The request for a, public inquiry into the fire-fighting methods of Christchurch was strongly Supported by the manager of the local branch of Lloyd’s Insurance Company, Mr W. B. Honour, to-day. Mr Honour said that questions regarding the tactics employed by the brigade in combating the fire which caused extensive damage at Macduff’s building and the State Theatre on Monday morning had been answered by the superintendent (Mr A. Morrison) to the full satisfaction of his company, but the question did not end there. Although 'Superintendent Morrison had given satisfactory answers, it was now clear that factors over which he had no control had contributed largely to the destruction of the buildings. At this point it was for the public authorities to step in ■ and .hold an investigation. The possibility was that s'ome serious structural fault would be shown, and that these were the basic cause of the spread of the fire. “In the interest of public safety, the incidence of two serious fires within afew days of each other, and the presence of factors that made the work of the brigade ineffectual to prevent heavy losses, a public inquiry into all aspects of fire-fighting in the city is warranted,” said Mr Honour. He added that his company was not looking on -,the question from a commercial standpoint, but thought that a lead should be given to public opinion. Any question of inquiry lyould have no bearing on the settlement of claims. These were being dealt with as speedily as possible. Mr Honour added that, while the chairman of the fire board (Mr T. M. Charters) appeared to bo mainly concerned with combating award conditions that he considered likely to affect the efficiency of the brigade, this was not the main issue in Mr Honour’s opinion. He wanted to correct any impression that might have been drawn from remarks he made yesterday that Mr Charters was attempting to avoid discussion of the main issue. What he had wished to imply was that if the inquiry was confined to the operation of the award other important questions would not receive attention. In addition to the examination of the conditions prescribed in the award the scope of the investigation should be widened so that it could deal with the strength of the brigade, the condition of the equipment, and the question of enrolling and training auxiliary firemen for service in cases of emergency. The inquiry should also be' comprehensive enough to deal with building bylaws which seemed to require revision.

FIREMEN’S VIEWPOINT. . REPLY TO CHAIRMAN. Per Press Association. , • CHRISTCHURCH, May 26. “Six men whose leave did not expire until 8 a.m. reported for duty at 6.45 a.m. at the Central Fire Station on the morning of Macduff’s fire and, although told there was an outbreak in the city, were not given orders to proceed tO\the fire,” said the secretary of the Fire Brigademen’s Union (Mr W. H. Mathieson), on behalf of the men in reply to the statement by Mr T. M. Charters, chairman of the fire board. The reply added that the six brigadesnien mentioned—an officer and five men—were on the station premises when the call was received at 2.47 a.m., but, as no emergency alarm was given, they did not report until 6.45 a.m. Mr Mathieson said that at no time had the staff exceeded 50 in number. At present the total Strength of the staff was 47. Three men had left the service and had not so far been replaced. Mr Charters had made the following statement: “But for the provisions of the present award tor faremen probably about half a dozen extra men could have been called out. Mr Charters had also stated that the extra men would have been of considerable assistance if they had been available. To-day Mr Charters had said that, in actual fact, the number on duty was sufficient, which was a direct contradiction of his previous statement. “As a general practice, when a big fire occui'S, an emergency alarm is given after the general alarm to summon all remaining firemen to report for duty, as was the case with the recent fire at “Weston Bros. , added Mr Mathieson. “Why, then, was not an emergency alarm given before 6.45 a.m. P At 6.45 a.m. it is the usual practice to sound three short rings on the general alarm to notify the men to parade for duty, but on the morning of the fire at Macduff s six rings on the alarm were given this being unusual. All men on the station reported at the watcliroom for duty. They included one officer and five men, whose leave did not expire until 8 ain The men were told there was an outbreak of fire in the city, but no orders had been given for the men to proceed to the fire. The officer and five men were on the station premises when the call was received at 247 a.m., .but, as no emergency aiarm was given, the men did-not report until 6.45 a/m. When the general alarm for Weston Bios. nre was given, no day leave men on the station answered, but an emergency alarm was given about one hour later and all-day leave men on the station responded to the alarm. “As Mr Charters states that .there were sufficient men at the fire, why were three policemen pressed into service to help to operate the extension ladder between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., and why was a sergeant of police directing a hose from Colombo Street on to the State Theatre building?” ' f The Canterbury district councillor the New Zealand Federation of Labour has announced its intention of pressing, in the interests of firemen, for a public inquiry into Monday morning’s fire and related questions. This was announced in a nntner statement made by the councils chairman, Mr J. Roberts.