FIRE ON THE WARRIMOO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12819, 20 March 1905, Page 6

FIRE ON THE WARRIMOO.

EXCITING EXPERIENCE AT SEA. | EXPLOSIVE CARGO JETTISONED. ! EXPLOSIVE CARGO JETTISONED. VESSEL RETURNS TO PORT. TH OUTBREAK EXTINGUISH Melbourne, March 9. Thk Union Company's steamer Warrimoo, which left- Melbourne on Wednesday afternoon for New Zealand ports, via Hobart, was discovered to be 011 fire when oil" Cape Selianck, and returned to port this morning. The fire was extinguished on the return journey, and none of the passengers or crew was injured. The Warrimoo, under the command of Captain l - '. W. X., Macbeth, took away 66 saloon and 77 steer- j age passenger.-, and a cargo of mixed merchandise, including 400 eases of benzine, ! 100 tins of kerosene, 8 cases of cartridges, 27 eases of vestas, and 524 bags of chaff. The benzine, in accordance with the port | regulations, was stowed on deck, and the I bulk of the kerosene lay at the loot of the forward hatch, hedged in between bags of chaff. The vessel left the Union Company's berth at- Queen's Wharf at a quarter-past four o'clock, and passed through the Heads at- about halt-past, eight o'clock. Finn weather was encountered, the night being cleai, and the sea smooth. Most of the passengers had retired to their cabins by half-past ten o'clock. When the vessel was standing about seven or eight miles off the lighthouse at Cape Sehanck, the third officer. Mr. F. Jelly, was on watch, and the smell of burning attracted his attention to the hold ventilator, which stands oil the deck near the bridge. Mr. Jelly saw a thin line of gray smoke winding out of the mouth of the ventilator. 11" instantly informed Captain Macbeth, and a ha-ty examination served to convince the captain that the cargo was on tire. He inline- | diatelv mobilised the crew, and turned the bows of the vessel towards Melbourne again. All hands were set to work to east over- i board the dangerous deck cargo of benzine, and in a few .seconds the decks were clear, and the eases travelling to the bed of the ocean. Half the forward hatch was removed, and blinding billows of smoke swept out, driving all before it. Hose had been procured, and the Meets made several plucky attempts to carry these down the ladder into the hold, but. on each • ceasion they were forced to beat a retreat half suffocated. No flumes could be di-eerned. but a steady glow behind the smoke, on tin; starboard side, indicated the centre ol the fire's activity. Realising that it was impossible to grapple with the lire .effectively from tin- point of attack. Captain Macbeth ordered the hatches to be battened down tightly again, so that as little air as possible might enter the hold to feed the flames. This work was rendered extremely difficult by reason of the immense volume of smoke which poured forth, but the officers and men waiting for an opportune moment rushed .owards the opening and succeeded in the difficult task. Deciding upon a flank movement, Captair Macbeth set. the carpenter and his mate to work breaking in the bulkhead which separates the forward hold from the niessrooni. As this was dune a line of smoke shot across the ruessroom as suddenly as if it had conic from the mouth of a cannon. Iwo ho-es were in readme--, and they were immediately thrust through the hole, and a continuous stream of watei was played upon the burning cargo throughout the night. BOATS IX READINESS. l*p 10 the breaking of the bulkhead the passengers had not been informed of their peril: but Captain Macbeth had in the meantime had the boats lowered to the rail and provisioned in readine-vs for tt-o should it have become necessary to abandon the ship. The head steward and stewardess were then instructed to awaken the pa-sen-gets, ami tell them that a- a mishap bad occurred to the vestisl it would be advisable for them to dress. The steerage passengers were taken from their quarter.-, which are in the forward part of the vessel, to the saloon, lest a Midden explosion of kerosone in the hold should cut them off from the rest of the ship. No panic or fear was displayed. and lie passengers were no doubt relieved to a groat extent by the knowledge that the sea. was calm and the coast within sight. The captain also ordered food to be supplied. The vessel was meanwhile steaming at almost her maximum speed towards the Heads, and as site approached Queensciiff, blue lights were burned and rockets fired to indicate that boats might be reunited to take off passengers. The pilot steamer followed the Warrimoo in readiness to render assistance should it be required, and among the several boats which came off as she entered the Heads was the Government steamer, engaged in blasting rocks. Happily, however, necessity for assistance did not arise. THE FIRE CONQUERED. Once out of the swell of the open sea a stage was slung over the starboard side, anil the chief officer, Mr. Pender, took his stand upon it with the intention of smashing in the ports of the hold so that further hoses could be brought into action. In getting to work Mr. Pender slipped and fell into the sea, but catching some of the ropes in his fall, lie was dragged aboard unhurt. He then succeeded in breaking the glass or the ports and two hoses were directed to the hottest portion of the fire. It was this device which proved most successful. As the Warrimoo proceeded 011 her way up the bay the smoke gradually grew less, and Captain Macbeth was able to announce to the pas.-etigers at four o'clock that the vessel was safe. She was temporarily berthed at,- the Port Melbourne town pier at. ten minutes past six. and it was doe-mod advisable to request the fire brigade, which was in attendance there, to thoroughly spray the cargo through the hatch with its chemical engine. At eight clock the Warrimoo. with a heavy list, to port, owing to the weight of the 200 tons of water in her hold, was taken up the river by Captain T. Liley, the river pilot, anil berthed at Queen's Wharf, where the work of removing the damaged cargo was begun. Though the extent of damage appeared to be slight when viewed from the deck during the discharge of cargo, the tire evidently extended far along the port side. It seemed to have been wholly confined to the merchandise between decks, for that in the lower hold is apparently untouched. The fire, however, must have raged most intensely when at its height. The tops of dozens of kerosene cases have been burned away, while the tins themselves are in many instances in fragments, with solder fallen in fantastic shapes in lie; mass of chaff which burst from the bags. From early morning until mid-day the bay was covered with a thick haze, owing to the .smoke which spread from the Warrirnoo. INTERVIEW WITH THE CAPTAIN; Captain Macbeth, master of the Warrimoo, on being interviewed, said:—"Thorn was 110 sign of anything wrong until we were about eight miles oft Cape Schanek, when the third officer saw' smoke coming from the ventilator. All hands were called, the ship was headed back for Melbourne, and the? boats slung out. We threw overboard the benzine we had as deck cargo ou finding the cargo to be properly 011 fire, and after the officers had fried to get down the hatches with host* we got the carpenter., to .-mash through from the niessrooni, and used the hose Iroin there. The passangers had been told to dress, and I must say that everybody (crew and passengers) behaved •splendidly. There was not the slightest sign of fear. No flames came through the me—room, but tin- smoke was pretty bad; in fact, it began to get through everywhere, filling the alleyway-. What we we're a raid of was that the Kcivisene would go off, and 1 can't make out how it was that" it didn't. It must have been absolutely boding, for the. condition of the tin's shows iho heat it was subjected to, and yet it. did not explode. I never feared for the lives of the passengers at. any time, but. J. realised that if the kero-ene went off we might have to take to the boats and leave the ship, and do that pretty smartly, too. That was the reason I. sent, up signals as we tieared Qitecnscliff. What really saved the ship was getting the "hose to work through the ports. We were able to concentrate water on the spot, where the lire was at its worst, and we had it well out by the time we got up the bay. It smoked a little when we took the hatches off, but there was really nothing to fear at that time, "Some of the passengers went back to bed when they found us getting it under control, but, the majority preferred to finish the night, 011 deck. I cannot account for the outbreak at all, and can advance no theory regarding it. 1 have had one or two previous experiences with fire at sea, but nothing nearly as serious a- hi-.." [t;v Tt-Xi.o'it.u'ir. --i'KKss assoi i vi ios. | Dun 1 it.v, Saturday. I lie diiectors of the Union Steam Ship Company have r,enl. to Captain Mcßcth a. message compliment him highly on the manner in which the officers: and crew of 'he vessel suppressed the recent tire on the | Warrimoo,