THE TIMBER-MILL FIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17362, 8 January 1920, Page 8

THE TIMBER-MILL FIRE.

INADEQUATE'WATER supply, ' official explanation, result OF lock." ; The inadequacy of tho water supply for - fire extinguishing purposes at the time of o - the fire at Cashmore's Brothers' sawmill r ' on Tuesday is explained by a report pre- e , sented to the Mayor of Auckland by Mr. t I J. Carlaw, waterworks engineer. f Mr. Carlaw says • that as soon as he o i heard that the pressure of water was low \ i he had the main examined. West End ( i Road, on which the mill was situated, is supplied through a 4in main,' which finishes i ! with a " dead ■ end" at the waterside at „ i Cox's Creek. The conclusion arrived at j 5 by Mr. Carlaw—and he finds it borne out/ j , by the fact that the 6in main in Jervois t Road, from which the West End Road t main is taken, was well charged with water—was that at the moment of making t the large draw-off for the fire the pressure t in the 4in main was so reduced as to cause | the ball-valves to drop, and allow tho \ entrance of air, causing aft air-lock at the s highest part of the main, where it is really ( a syphon. The air-lock evidently wou'.d , not allow the passage of water until the t lock was moved. " On discovering this Mr. Carlaw turned j _ on the Mount Eden pressure to Grey Lynn, so that on that side of the creek there was nearly 2001b pressure to the inch. Had the main not finished with a, dead-end, the air could have been forced back with a greater pressure on the other side, but in this 'case it was .mpossihle. Under ordinary conditions the pressure of water at the scene of the fire should have been 1301b to the inch. The unfortunate j occurrence, adds Mr. Carlaw, was one j which it was impossible to foreshadow or prevent. Only once before has he had experience of a sirai'ar difficulty— in Seafield View Road, many years ago. The remains of the timber mill continued to smoulder throughout Tuesday nighv, but no further developments than those reported yesterday occurred. Tuc we containing the papers of Casbuore Brothers," Ltd., was secured from the debris by means of wire cables, but could not be opened. Firemen were present throughout Tuesday night and during yesterday to watch the sits. The cause d the outbreak has not been definitely ascer- ,