FIRE IN FACTORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20713, 5 November 1930, Page 10

FIRE IN FACTORY.

OUTBREAK AT GREY LYNN. MASS OF BURNING TOW, i LOSS ESTIMATED AT OVER £3500,;?' Fire caused extensive damage to V upholstery, furniture and woodwork at the factory of Tattersfield, Limited, Sack, villo Street, Grey Lynn, yesterday morning. Six men who were working in the upholstery department on the top storey, where the outbreak occurred, were forced to make a hurried exit, while a youth was affected by the fumes and had to be assisted from the building. The dam. age is estimated at between £3500 and £4OOO. The fire started shortly before ten o'clock, flames and dense smoke suddenly rising from tightly-packed bales of tow. The men jn the room had to run past the burning mass to safety, and several of them had no time to collect their coats, which were destroyed. The men and women working in the adjoining departments immediately left tho building. Attempts to fighi. the outbreak with fir* extinguishers proved futile. The heat broke the glass windows facing Sackvillo Street, and fanned by a strong wind tho flames spread rapidly through the large room. Tho alarm was answered byi,he Western District Fire Brigade and a second engino arrived from tho city station. The heat was intcdse and the smoke rendered the task of the brigades difficult. The firemen inside the room were compelled to play the hose in relays, the wooden floor being so hot that one man had his knee scorched. Efforts were concentrated on breaking up the tiers of the bales of tow and throwing them to the ground. As the ropes binding the bales burnt the blazing tow was scattered over the floor and presented fresh difficulties. A good pressure of water was available and the outbreak was under control within a quarter of an hour, but it was mid-day before the fire was extinguished. The upholstery department was extensively damaged, the contents, which com. prised suites of furniture and rolls of moquette and similar materials, being destroyed or partly burned. The rafters of the room were also damaged. The woodwork stock in the lower three storeys was affected by water. The stock, plant and building were separately insured, but no details are available. OUTBREAK IS WASH-HOUSI. ENGINEER BADLY BURNED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] NAPIER, Tuesday. A wash-house caught fire this morning at the Government electric sub-station at Taradale, and Mr. B. Salter, an engineer, was badly burned about the hands and aims. The damage to the building was not extensive, and the cottage and the station building were saved from the flames.