INQUIRY INTO FIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15914, 11 May 1915, Page 5

INQUIRY INTO FIRE.

LOSS OF CRAIG'S STABLES.

ORIGIN OF OUTBREAK.

EXPERTS GIVE EVIDENCE.

An* inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the fire which destroyed Messrs. J. J. Craig's stables in St. George's Bay Road, Paniell, was commenced yesterday morning by Mr. E. C. Cutten, B.M. Before the opening of the proceedings, the coroner visited the site where the fire occurred.

E. A. Craig, secretary and director of the firm of J. J. Crsig, Ltd., stated that the stables were only completed, the day before the fire. He considered them to be the most up-to-date stables in the Dominion. The building was valued at £7027. For insurance purposes, the loss of live stock and other property was estimated at £20,792. The insurances amounted to £12,790. His firm was thus losing about £8000. He had no theory to put forward as to the cause of the fire.

William Henry Gurney, stable foreman, said that on the evening of the fire he was in the office at the stables. He had written two reports, and was completing the arranging 0 { a time-sheet, when, at aßtiut 9 p.m., he saw a flicker of light and heard a snap from the electric switchboard, and a'report. For a moment there was absolute darkness, and then the lid''*' 3 came back again. Witness rushed! "'outside and saw the building WSJ on fire. He proceeded'to give the "'alarm, and then started to liberate some of the horses. The fire spread rapidly, and in about 25 minutes the buMiiig was destroyed. Witness never smoked in the stables or even in the yard. Smoking was strictly prohibited. He knew of nothing outside the electrical appliances in the building that might have caused the fire. James Sydney Shenen, a carter in the employ of Mesa*. J. J. Craig, Ltd., said that on April 22 he was walking along Newmarket to Parnell, and when Hearing the Salvation Army Hall in Russell Street, he noticed smoke and ■fire in the western end, near the office, of Messrs. J. J. Craig's stables. When he reached the stable the fire had a good hold. He liberated about 20 horses, but they -an up to thetop end of the . building. Charles Alexander Woolley, superintendent of the Auckland City Fire Brigade, deposed to the brigade receiving a call to Craig's stables on the night of April 22. The necessary 'appliances were despatched, under Deputy-Superintendent Wilson. The latter, in his report, had made no suggestion as to the origin of the fire. Witness gave instances where the fusing of electric wires had caused fires in the city. It was possible that the fire at Messrs. J. J. Craig's stables was caused through the fusing of the electric light wires. Geoffrey Trevethick, an electrical engineer, said that under the supervision of Mr. E. J. Fenn* he accepted a contract for the installation of electric light in Messrs. J. J. Craig's stables, and .completed the work three months before the fire. The wires were all encased in steel conduits. There were from two to four wires running through these conduits. The wires were all insulated with rubber. The insulated material inside tho conduits was inflammable. The current for lighting was received from the City Council. The plant was installed in the most modern style, and it was freo from faults. If there was too much current the fuse on the switchboard which controlled the circuit would blow out and tho whole circuit would be automatically cut off. He accounted for the noise heard by Gurney find the flicker of the lights by the fact that the fire had started and reached a conduit and melted all the insulating material from the wires inside. The copper wire had then come in contact with tho cenduit and caused a short circuit. The conduits did not run along beams but underneath the joists, and were about 7ft or Bft, at the bottom, away from tho jarreh upright that caught fire. Ernest James Fenn, consulting electrical engineer, said he supervised the installation of the electric lighting plant at Messrs. J. J. Craig's stables. He had heard the evidence of the previous witness and concurred with it in every respect. He considered it was practically impossible for the electric lighting plant to have caused the fire.

.Aitliur James Walker, a consulting en* gineer also gave evidence. The inquiry was adjourned till 10 a.m. to-morrow.