SERIOUS CITY FIRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23162, 7 October 1938, Page 10

SERIOUS CITY FIRE

BUILDING IN FLAMES EXPLODING CHEMICALS 1 STAFF MEMBERS' ESCAPE; CROWD BLOCKS STREET 1 1 !>? Sweeping with amazing rapidity- V through two top floors of the buildingat 63 Shortland Street owned and[, occupied by G. W. Wilton and Cora-, pany, Limited, a fire which broke out; shortly after five o'clock yesterday afternoon caused several thousands of ? pounds worth of damage to thft stopkof scientific equipment and technical; chemicals, and partly destroyed the/; upper portion of tho building. The, manager, Mr. A. A. Gray, and his. typist, Miss H. G. Menzies, were, nearly, trapped while looking for am elderly visitor who had disappeared. Dense Black Smoke Dense black smoke enveloped near by> buildings and great tongues of flame, which leaped through the roof and out; of windows for a time threatened that premises of Shorter's Rental Cars,, Limited, on tho western side, and thouei of the Takapuna Jockey Club on the* other. Immediately the seriousness of; the fire was realised, all the motor-cara: in Shorter's were hurriedly driven to> safety. The alarm.was given by Miss Men-, zies. She said afterward that all the. other employees left the building «t; five o'clock. Mr. Gray and a visitor,, : Mr. F. J. Smith, of 7 Bella' Vista-, Road, Ponsonby, were talking in. tho, office on the first floor, overlookingShortland Street. She went down-: stairs, and as she reached the bottojn, she was startled to see a sheet oft flame issue from a 12ft. high bin wood-wool at the back of the gromyjj floor. The next minute she heani W series of explosions, apparentlyvrcanaedj by bursting chemical bottles. Race to Safety Miss Menzies rushed upstairs tOfjtefe-. phone the fire brigade, and by the. time she had raised the alarm the. place was filled with smoke. In thei general confusion, she and Mr. Graymissed Mr. Smith. They wasted pre-., cious minutes searching for him amongthe long rows of fixtures in the Wire-.' , house, and when they failed to flic! . him, they had to race for safety from the advancing smoke and flame," wha& >,j had burst up a lift well to tha jtojj '•? floor, and was mushrooming down/the staircases.

Missing Visitor Found ' They were just in time to escape,by/ way of the stairs to the ground floor; and were relieved to find Mr. Smithi had preceded them and was by theai standing outside watching the fire. By that time two engines and a sal-, vage van from the Central Fire ? Station, and one each from Parnell and Western Districts, had arrived. Although this was scarcely more than two minutes after the alarm was given, the fire had already gained a complete hold of . the top floor. The brigades at once attacked the outbreak from Chancery Lane and Shortland Street. ; ; Huge Crowd Collects * H'S Meanwhile, thousands of people had blocked Shortland Street down to Queen Street,' and emergency squads of police were rushed to the scene to keep the people well . clear of- the building, until they had ascertained from the manager whether or not the building held explosive chemicals. Shortland Street and the immediate neighbourhood was enveloped in a heavy pall of black smoke, and -many bystanders suffered inflamed eyes and bad their clothing drenched with dirty waterthat spurted through the windows. Inside, the firemen were confronted with the choking fumes from burning chemicals and intense heat from the roof, and they had several anxious: moments because they were not then aware of the contents of the building.. Flames Under Control

Within 20 minutes it became evident that the concentrated' efforts of the brigades were having effect. The flames at the top storey windows were less apparent, and all danger to adjoining buildings had passed. By 5.45 o'clock the red glow had disappeared, although smoke continued to billow from ail sides. By 6.15 the fire was quenched./?. The only section of the second and' third floors to escape damage was th»> office. The roof and top floor were prao-. tically destroyed, and the second floorwas strewn with broken bottles, charred - wood and damaged fixtures. Everything was waterlogged and smoke-blackened. Tho bin which held the wood-wool used for packing fragile goods was burned out, and the timbering of the hydrauliclift well buckled and scorched. Other Chemicals in Magazine ■

Mr. Gray said after the fire that in keeping with the regulations all dangerous chemicals were kept in a brick magazine apart from the main building. On tho top floor were stored bulk goods, and the majority of those on the second were other' chemicals and scientific apparatus, little of which was now expected to be of further„use. The back windows look out upon ruins of the block of buildings once occupied by D.S.C. and Cousins, Limited, which were swept by a disastrous fire- on May 15, causing damage estimated at £40,000.

Mr. Gray said the insurances on both the stock and the building were held by the London Assurance Corporation. He thought the policy on the stock wa* for about £4OOO, and that on the building about £2OOO.