LATER PARTICULARS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 15 June 1926, Page 5

LATER PARTICULARS

NELSON CARGO DAMAGED

CAUSE OF FIRE UNKNOWN

NEW PLYMOUTH, This Day

A fire broke out bn' the steamer Opihi when 'abiYut- nil Hour and a half steaming time from New Plymouth yesterday inornipg, aiid'sho arrived off the port at ,9.50 a.m. with smoke issuing, freely .from ‘No! '2 llold. Fearing that the port authorities had decided not to berth her owing to the unusually rough weather - prevailing, Captain Fisll signalled at once, "Fire in hold,” and the vessel came alongside the Moturoa wharf immediately. Water from the wharf main's was poured into her at once hv the ship’s officers./and the!''crew,/ and watersiders, the fire brigade supplementing Llieir efforts later. '' ■ "" Throughout the afternoon ’ special gangs toiled assiduously unloading the smouldering-cargo, Hoses being used at the' same time. By '8.30 pirn, the fire had been completely subdued and all (he damaged cargo removed. The cause of , the outbreak is unknown. At first it,,was attributed to lime-cargo .at .the bottom of the hold, but this was afterwards disproved. , The Opihi had 1000 tons of southern general cargo for New./.Plymouth,, and •320-tons for Nelson. Only 100 tons of New Plymouth cargo were burnt or damaged and 200 tops of Nelson cargo. The cargo in holds .other than No. 2 was-not damaged-and . the ship was not affected by,.the fire. . The men had a. strenuous time during the unloading operations.. Immediately the hatches were lifted dense clouds of smoke emerged, which made unloading extremely! difficult. At times the vessel was almost obscured by smoke. The workers soon disposed, of the topmost, portions of the cargo, which consisted chiefly of machinery, piping and lime. With the use of hoses up came dense volumes of steam which made matters more .uncomfortable. The steam was gradually dispelled, exposing dilapidated sacks of flour, bran and wheat, many of which had burst open. Shortly after 1 o'clock much of the burnt cargo was revealed, and soon men were toiling in masses of bran, flour, wheat and roasted potatoes. Articles of furniture were hoisted up and stowed in ' trucks among the disordered array of sacks!By 7 o'clock little smoke was issuing, and by that time it was necessary to shovel cargo into, baskets. Each basket carried a saturated mixture of salt, flour and lime. At 7.30 the workers were at the; seat of the fire and operations censed soon afterwards.