BIG FIRE LOSS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22583, 23 November 1936, Page 9

BIG FIRE LOSS

RUM DISTILLERY , ENORMOUS DAMAGE QUEENSLAND SENSATION SPECTACULAR SCENES By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received November 22, 5.5 p.m.) BRISBANE. Nov. 22 During a tropical thunderstorm last night, lightning set fire to the j Millaquin Sugar Company's large . rum distillery at Bundaberg, result- j ing in damage estimated at nearly i £1,000,000. I The flames lit up the whole of i East Bundaberg. Residents could j not approach within 300 yards of j the outbreak. Half a million gallons of the finest! rum and between 150,000 and 40,000 j gallons of methylated spirit, in addi- j tion to the valuable plant and build- | ings, were completely destroyed. A 1 molasses store with a capacity of ] ,000,000 gallons, adjacent to the distillery, was saved by a change in the wind There were many terrific explosions. Firemen It ml scores of employees at the distillery worked for hours in quelling the fire, which was one of the worst in the history of Australia. Streams of burning rum and methylated spirit flowed for hours from the inferno into the Burnett River. Bundaberg is a port and municipality in the county of Cook on the River Burnett. It is 217 miles north of Brisbane. The Millaquin sugar refinery is situated on the river bank a mile below the town, it is the largest in Australia. OUTBREx\K AT SYDNEY BOOT FACTORY DESTROYED THREE FIREMEN INJURED SYDNEY, Nov. 22 The five-storev boot factory of John Hunter and Sons at Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, was destroyed by fire during the night. The damage is estimated at between JL'SO,OOO and £70,000. Three firemen were injured when the roof collapsed.