AERO CLUB LOSS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23010, 11 April 1938, Page 10

AERO CLUB LOSS

QUARTERS BURNED FIRE AT MANGERE X ' 1 WATER SUPPLY FAILS ' MANY TROPHIES SAVED The two-storeyed wooden - clubhouse of the Auckland Aero Club at the Mangere aerodrome was destroyed by fire yesterday morning. The total damage is estimated at £4ooo. An unfortunate aspect of the fire was .that the damage could have been confined to a portion of the building if the only available water supply from a near by creek had not dried up, leaving firemen helplessly to watch the building being razed to the ground. By the heroic efforts of pilots resident at the clubhouse and members of the ground staff, most of the furniture and fittings, including many valuable trophies, was saved. Two of the staff of Union Airways, who reside in the building, lost all their belongings, but other personal effects were saved. Discovery o! Outbreak The outbreak was discovered about 10 o'clock by the club's assistant instructor, Mr. B. Haybittle, who was standing on the balcony. Detecting a smell of burning, he entered the building and was met by tongues of flame leaping from the linen store in the northern end of the building.Hand fire extinguishers were hastily brought into use, but as, the fire was already strongly established, calls were sent by telephone to the Otahuhu and Onehunga brigades. In the meantime, members of the staff rendered valuable assistance in carrying any movable object to safety.

The two brigades were promptly on the scene, but they were then faced with the initial handicap of pumping sea water from one of the creeks near the hangars, as no reticulated supply was available. About 1000 ft.. of hoso was run out before the water vra* reached and the automatic pump of. the Onehunga machine was brought/ into action. Flames Burst Through Roof By this time the flames had burst through the roof and were leaping high in the air, while the ground floor also was engulfed. "With the limited pressure of water available, the firemen succeeded in checking the 'spread of the fire, and there were prospects of the outbreak being suppressed.-' However, at this critical juncture, the supply gave out. The creek is a tidal one, and as the tide was out, the supply was confined to the water lying in the creek bed. With no other meani of supply, the firemen were forced to stand by and watch the building destroved.

Firemen and. assistants did not escape injury in their efforts to save the building. A member of the Otahuhu brigade, Mr. M. Morton, iraj affected by smoke, but he continued to assist until he collapsed a second time. He was later admitted to the Auckland Hospital, where he was detained for treatment. During the salvage work,. one of the Union Airways staff suffered burns to his arm Many Motorists Arrive The thick pall of smoke which rose from the building was seen in the city, and many motorists arrived shortly after the outbreak. Flames leaped high in the air, but fortunately the light breeze was fanning them away from the hangars, which are about 500 yards from the clubhouse, and these buildings were not endangered.

A tribute to the salvage work of the staff was paid last night by the secretary, Mr. L, W. Swan. The clubhouse, which was built in 1929, was insured with Lloyds office for £2500, and the contents for £4OO in the same office. Among the valuable trophies, all of which were saved, was a handsome silver piece depicting the flight of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Mr. C. P. [Tint from San Francisco to Australia in 1925. This memento bears the autograph of the four members of the party on that flight. The autographed portrait of Jean Batten also was salvaged.

OUTBREAK IN CITY OIL DRUM EXPLODES TAR DISTILLERY PLANT Following an outbreak of fire in the Auckland Gas Company's tar distillery plant, Beaumont Street, Freeman's Bay, about three o'clock on Saturday morning, an oil drum exploded violently, startling near by residents. The Central and Western district fire brigades were called to the fire, which they extinguished within about an hour. The damage was confined to shattered windows and-charred woodwork. Two larfie vats were scorched and the. oil contents were displaced by water from the fire hoses. The cause of the fire is not known, bat the explosion is attributed to the expansion of the inflam» mahle contents of the drum in the intense heat. '

LARGE HOUSE DESTROYED EXPLOSION WAKENS FAMILY [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION'] BLENHEIM, Saturday An 11-roomed, two-storey house, owned by Mr. E. W. Avery, of Grassmere, and occupied by Mr. R. Greig, situated in New Renwick Road, destroyed by fire at five o'clock this morning. The first warning Mr. and Mr*. Greig and their three children had of anything amiss wat, a loud explosion, presumably due to the fusing of the electric wires. The top storey was found to be m flames, and the fire spread with siich rapidity that it was possible to save only a few articles. Mrs. Greig lost a quantity of jewellery. * One of the district's oldest homesteads, the building was a large wooden' structure erected over 50 years The insurance on the house was and on the contents £l3O.