OPERA HOUSE FIRE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19969, 10 December 1926, Page 12

OPERA HOUSE FIRE.

SEEKING THE CAUSE. CONFLICTING STATEMENTS. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, December 9. The suggestion that the blowing out of a fuse was the cause of the recent fire at the Opera House haa been the subject of investigation by the Auckland Electric Power Board, and reports on the matter have been made by the general manager and the supply engineer. The General Manager (Mr R. IT. Bartley) stated that a very careful investigation has been made by the board’s inspectors, and as a result he is of the opinion that only by the largest stretch of the imagination could one say that the fire had as its origin some fault in the electrical installation. The fact that scene painting work was in progress at the time opened up avenues other than electricity as the moans of starting the fire. The supply engineer (Mr E. Hutchinson) has reported to the general manager that there was no means of telling what was the cause of the lire. The fire occurred after the evening peeformance was over, when the electrical load was reduced, and it would seem reasonable to assume that if the fuses were going to blow they would do so when the load was at the maximum. The fire did not start at the switchboard, and the circuits that 1 were alight were above the stage and well up in the air. There was no evidence whatever of faulty electrical wiring. In reply to statements by. the _ power board’s officers the general manager in New Zealand for Messrs John Fuller and Sons (Mr W. Burton), said that, although the power board was not blamed, he was certain that the fire was electrical in origin, and that the starting point was on the No. 2 boarder—a string of lights suspended horizonallv above the stage. Mr W Diamond," a scenic artist, was working on the stage at the time of the outbreak. He heard a noise above him and was burned by falling embers. The latter was not using spirits at the time, most of the work being done in water colours. In conclusion Mr Burton considers that the fire was an unforeseen happening. There was no fault on the part of the power board’s inspectors, and he believes that the wiring in the theatre would have passed any tests and inspections on the night of the fire.