THE RECENT FIRE IN AUCKLAND.

North Otago Times, Volume XI, Issue 346, 15 September 1868, Page 3

THE RECENT FIRE IN AUCKLAND.

The following extraordinary account of the origin of the fire that recently took place in the stores of Messrs Ireland Brothers, Durham-street, Auckland, is taken from the " Southorn OroB3 :" — It i8 satisfactory, after all the many conjectures that have been made on the subject, that the origin of the fire has now been clearly ascertained ; and though we shall not anticipate the details that will transpiro at the official inquiry, we may say shortly that Messrs Ireland Brothers appear to be perfectly blameless in the matter, the fire having boon caused by the gross caroles3ncs9 of others. It seems that about two o'clock yesterday afternoon, one of the Messrs Ireland received a note from Captain Williams, stating that the writer was in possession of information that would throw light on the origin of the lire. Mr Ireland was further requested to proceed on board the ship Racehorse, in order to learn further particulars. Ho did so, and on his arrival on board several of the officers and crew were mustered, and a statement was made which throws the clearest possible light on the origin of the fire. The crew stated that about three o'clock on Saturday afternoon the cooper of the vessol was ongnged on the lower deck in securing some cargo which had become bulged by compression. One of the articles at which he was engaged was a cask of lampblack, the top of which had been jammed off. In attempting to repair the damage, he accidentally ignited some brown paper attached to the cask, and in a few minutes the contents of the cask were on fire, a ball of burning material about as large as a man's head being observed in the middle of the cask. Feeling that it might possibly endanger the safety of the ship, it was removed to the 'tween decks ; but hero again it was observed by the second officer, who had it, as ho thought, extinguished. The contents of the barrel, according to the statements of the men, wero stirred round m the centre, and then it was tightly closed up and removed on to the wharf to ensure the safety of the vessel. Now comes the most extraordinary aud unfortunate part of the story. Mr Wadham, who is employed by tho Messrs Ireland B) others to superintend the Ian ling of all cargo consigned to tliem, and who had been employed in that capacity in respect to goods landing from the Hai ehoroe, observed the barrel on the wharf, and, seeing that it was consigned to Messrs Irelaud Brothers, had ir removed to their -.tore, lntle imagining what it contained. At this time there appears to ha\o been nothing unusual about the appearance of the barrel, and it is believed that, having been tightly closed up, tho fire must have Bmouldored inside until, towards Sunday morning, it burst out through the woodwork of the cask, and, not being observed, soon communicated itself to tho great bulk of inflammable goods in the store. At all events, the barrel was removed to Messrs Ireland Brothers' store between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and it was exactly on the spot where it was placed that the fue was first noticed Should this explanation of the matter be verified at tho inquest, the origin of the fire will at least have been satisfactorily cleared up.