GREAT SYDNEY FIRE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18551, 8 November 1923, Page 9

GREAT SYDNEY FIRE.

i ■■ ii —■ FACTORY AMD- DWELLINGS. | DAMAGE TOTALS £100,000. 1 SPECTACULAR OUTBREAK. The furniture warehouse and factory; of 0. K. Elliott's, Ltd.. in th«. ; Crescent, Annandale, Sydney, and- three buildings opposite, were : completely destroyed by fire last week. ■'.« ; * , The premises adjoining the warehouse, occupied by Messrs. Turner and Loveridge, builders. : and Messr3. Alex. Thomson and Company, cabinetmakers, were damaged, while occupiers of the dwelling houses on either side : of the destroyed buildings opposite also; suffered 'loss through the fire. The total damage done has been estimated at £100,000. ~' ■'% ; The loss sustained by O. K. Elliott's. Ltd., is officially estimated to - exceed £70,000. Neither the stock nor the warehouse, which was the property of the occupants, was covered by insurances.

The outbreak, which resulted in this immense loss of property, occurred about 10 o'clock. Two hours prior' to that time, however, an employee noticed a fire in the kapok room of the bedding storeroom on the ground floor of the warehouse, which was in parts two storeys high. The brigades were summoned, but on arrival found that it had been extinguished. When they re-visited the factory later in response to a second call the large building, which covered an acre of ground, was well alight. Orders were immediately issued by Deputy"-Chief-Offi-cer Nance for every available detachment of firemen in the metropolitan area 'to attend, and. in consequence, half an hour after the outbreak was reported -over 50 firefighters were directing streams oi : water from all quarters on to. the conflagration. *">'. Warehouse Roof Collapses. The fresh water supply in the locality proved unequal to the demand,, and salt water had to bo pumped from a nearby storm-water canal. After some time the water in the canal began to recede with the outgoing tide, seriously; hampering the work of the firemen, but fortunately the blaze was then under control.

By the time the firemen were working at 'full pressure the building was alight from end to end, while huge tongues of flame were carried by a strong westerly wind across the road to the south side of the Crescent.

A few minutes later the roof of tho central portion of the warehouse collapsed with a deafening crash, and sent myriads of sparks high into the air. \ These were carried by the wind south of the fire* and : v falling in some* cases on inflammable material set fire to residences a quarter of a mile from the seat of the blaze. A . motor, however, was specially detailed to cope with such outbreaks, and daring the afternoon extinguished no fewer than 16 distinct fires. --V ...>:;

At about half-past 11 the central facade crashed on to the roadway, and this sealed the fate of the factory. * In the fall it smashed the overhead tramway and telegraph wires, and these lay scattered about the street. ''..;"•- ' ; ''--V Steps were immediately taken :to have the rurrent cut off, but before this was done Fireman P. Conway stood on a live wire, ; which had fallen into.-.:. a pool of - water. . In attempting to rescue him > , Deputy-Chief-Officer Nance, who was in charge., of fire-fighting operations, also came into contact with the current. Both men 'were conveyed to the Balmain District Hospital in an unconscious condition. .'-, ■'.--, • Driven Back by Flames. As the flames swept from the factory to the opposite side of the street they ignited a fire engine which was standing in the centre of the road. ..The woodwork was ; considerably damaged before the motor I was removed. Firemen who were working in this quarter were forced *to retire quickly from the roadway, which was enveloped from end to end in-"a sheet of flame. "..,',' .... •' ~. -.<■„/..• The scene was a spectacular one, "and was watched with unflagging -interest, by : a large crowd, who thronged the threa.. roads which converge on this spot. This heat at this stage was intense. An electric light standard of steel construction was twisted into an oval shape, while the sizzling of the pools of -water on the road- • way was quite audible to the onlookers. The terrace of dwelling houses and / shops opposite were soon part of the mass of flame, and the firemen decided to con- - centrate on saving, if possible, these build-. ings. A shop and dwelling house of five rooms, occupied by Angelo "Virgina, a fruiterer, was gutted, as also were two ; , cottages occupied by Messrs. v James Bailey and Richard ; Manning. - • ;.v;. ■ ■;■ After a strenuous fight the firemen succeeded in checking the progress of the fire ' on the south side of : the Crescent, while they were able to' stem, with similar success, - its advance on the large factories on the northern side, which at one stage ; the * fire threatened to demolish." "" "■ : -' * -: Several: hours elapsed before the fire was under control, V and at nightfall the )'■''' fire-fighters were still Splaying water in diminished quantities ;on to the smouldering mass. • .- ' ; " '-,' :\.*-.'-°-' ,'. , ,'■