LIME WORKS FIRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23381, 24 June 1939, Page 16

LIME WORKS FIRE

EARLY MORNING BLAZE SPECTACULAR INCIDENTS MUCH MACHINERY LOST SECOND BUILDING SAVED [" JJY TELECRAPH —OWN COEKESrOXDENT] TE KUITI, Friday Fire which broko out shortly before two o'clock this morning destroyed the To. Kuiti Lime Company, Limited s, carbonate plant at Waitete, a mile and a-lialf south of Te Kuiti. The work* are among the largest of the kind in the North Island. _ . The large wooden building housing the works burned fiercely and. owing to lack of water, the fire brigade was unable to save the building. The borough water main runs through the back of the lime works property, but is tapped only by a small pipo.

Discovery ol Outbreak The burnt limo kilns and plant in a building a few yards away did not catch alight. When the brigade arrived sparks and embers were floating in through the open windows of this building, placing it in great danger. The windows were closed and the outer walls resisted the heat. This section of the works was in operation this morning. The fire was first noticed by employees living near by. Flames were then breaking through the roof of the crushed lime works. The only telephone in the vicinity was in the company's office and the incn broke a panel in the door to gain entrance and give the alarm. Cascade of Stones and Lime The blaze was a most spectacular one. Machinery in the building crashed to the' floor amid a shower of sparks and falling timber when the supports were burned away. The towering storage hopper at one side of the building poured forth a stream of lime and stones as the flooring and sides were burned. Machinery in the burned building included three grinding mills, two giratory crushers, six large electric motors, a large generator and much subsidiary machinery. There was also a very large quantity of lime in the building. Position of Employees The cause of the fire is unknown. The works aro electrically driven, but the custom, is to cut off the power and extinguish the only fire before leaving the building for the night. No accurate estimate of the damage is possible at present, but it will run into thousands of pounds. The plant and building are insured, but details are not available. A total of 36 men is employed at the burnt lime and carbonate works. A number who arrived on the job this morning had to be paid off. It is not yet known how many will be out of work, as the men are interchangeable between the two sections of tho works.

HIGH SCHOOL DESTROYED OUTBREAK AT KTJROW [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] DUJ7EDIN", Friday The Kurow District High School, considered to bo one of the most modern buildings of its type in Otago, was destroyed by fire early on Wednesday morning. Shortly after three o'clock the wife of the headmaster, Mr. D. R. Blyth, was awakened by one of the children, who had noticed a glow shining through the window of the bedroom. The headmaster's residence is only 100 yards from the school-house, and so furiously was the front of the building burning that Mr. Blyth was able to get only a short distance from the house toward the lire, on account of the tremendous heat. Nearly a-quar-ter of an hour elapsed before any assistance arrived, but in any case there was little that could be done to cope with such a blaze, and by four o'clock nothing remained but a heap of smoking ashes.