50 Firemen Fight Kauri Timber Co. Mill Blaze

Northern Advocate, 21 December 1939, Page 4

50 Firemen Fight Kauri Timber Co. Mill Blaze

- [Per Press Association. — Copyright ] AUCKLAND, This Day. Five engines and 50 firemen fought a blaze which totally destroyed a dressing and recutting mill of the Kauri Timber Company at Mt. Eden, early this morning. The fire was a spectacular one. Forty thousand feet of timber, valued at £IOOO were aesiroyed. Timber valued . at £12,000, mostly for Government orders, was saved as the result of -the good efforts of the fire-fighters. The fact that there was no wind when the fire was discovered at 3.30 a.m., prevented a large scale loss. Explosives Nearby. Immediately adjoining the mill is the shot tower of the Colonial Ammunition Company, and the timber kiln of Henderson and Pollard, where massive piles of dry timber are stacked. At one stage the intense heat caused a portion of the timber to igVn'te, but the outbreak was quickly got under control. The paint work on the shot tower was scorched. Controlled in Half An Hour. When the bridages arrived the mill was a blazing inferno, and it was realised it would be impossible to save either the mill or timber stacked in the immediate vicinity. Firemen therefore, concentrated their efforts in saving other timber and the neighbouring buildings. The fire was under control in half an hour.

The mill machinery and the timber affected was insured for £3,300 in the N. Z, Insurance Co.