GAS EXPLOSION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21643, 13 May 1932, Page 8

GAS EXPLOSION

A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE BUILDING VIRTUALLY WRECKED FIVE PERSONS INJURED , (Per United Press Association.) AUCKLAND, May 12. With -a noise like the bursting of a high explosive shell and with almost as much subsequent damage, a gas explosion occurred in the living room behind a shop in Courts Buildings, Queen street, Onehunga, about 2 o’clock this afternoon. The building, a two-storeyed structure of brick and concrete, was almost completely wrecked, and five persons were injured, fortunately none of them serfous.

The damage is estimated at well over £3OOO.

The list of the injured is as follows:

Claude Harrison, aged 57, proprietor of the confectionery shop where the explosion occurred, concussion, a fractured arm, and cuts on the face; admitted to Auckland Hospital. John Sibbin, aged 32, Gas Company employee, of Onehunga, burns to right hand and face; admitted to hospital, not serious. Doreen Catchpole, aged 12, of One- . hunga, fractured femur; admitted to hospital, not serious. , Mrs Harrison, wife of the shopkeeper, injuries to right arm and legs; Hot admitted to hospital. Mrs Mary Catchpole, mother of Doreen Catchpole, badly sprained ankle; treated in casualty department.

The wreckage caused by the explosion made it seem almost miraculous that no one was gravely injured. Nearby shopkeepers . stated that the roar of the explosion was indescribable. The entire front of Mr Harrison’s shop was blown out. The living room, where the explosion actually occurred, was just a* mass of jagged timbers. The gas stove was thrown across the kitchenette behind the living room. There were ominous bulges in the brick walls at the sides of the building, and cracks in the concrete wall at the rear.

Another shop in Court’s Buildings, occupied by Mr E. Hardgrave, hairdresser and tobacconist, had its plate glass window blown out, and in the adjoining building a tailor’s shop occupied by Mr I. Lomas two plate glass windows were wrecked. The rear of this shop was damaged extensively by fire a fortnight ago. So great was the force of. the explosion that on the other side of the street the plate glass windows of three shops were smashed by the concussion, A large open touring car, owned by Mr R. M. Keller, who occupies living premises above Mr Hardgrave’s shop, was parked on the roadside outside the shop. It, too, wgs badly damaged by the force of the explosion and by flying glass. A shopkeeper on the other side of the street said that when he heard the roar of the explosion lie dashed out on to the footpath. All he could see was a dense cloud of smoke and dust. When it cleared there was a gaping shop front, wrecked almost beyond recognition. For some time after the accident men were engaged removing the debris from the footpath and sweeping up the glass which was scattered all over the road. Luckily the explosion was followed by only a minor outbreak of fire, which ,was quickly subdued. A graphic account of the accident was given by Mrs Harrison after she had received treatment for her injuries at a nearby chemist’s shop. The pressure of gas during the morning had been very poor, she said, and a man from the Gas Company had come over to blow out the pipes. However, the pressure was no better, and she also noticed a strong smell of gas. She was convinced that there was a leak, and her husband asked the Gas Company to send over another man. The man started to inspect the gas meter, Mrs Harrison said. “I left him to attend to some customers, but returned to the living room a minute or so later to get some goods. He then told me that there was no leak near the meter, but I had no sooner returned to the shop than there came the deafening roar of an explosion. “For what seemed like minutes 1 hardly knew what had happened. The whole building- seemed to rock. Smoke and dust obscured my vision and at the same time I felt myself thrown to the floor and pinned there by the counter, which was thrown over bn top of me. At the time of the explosion two women wenin the shop, Mrs Manning and Mrs Catcbpole, together with Mrs Catchpole’s two small daughters. Little Doreen Catchpole was also buried under some wreckage, and I could hear her calling for help My husband had been standing by the partition dividing the shop from the living room. It was a terrifying experience.” A glance at the shop and living room left one wondering how the people in them managed to escape with their lives. In one corner of the shop was an orange drink stall and the mechanism for the dispensing of drinks, fashioned like a gigantic orange, had been moved bodily from its position. The counter of the shop had been tossed over, the walls and ceiling had been damaged, and most of the shelves and all the stock had been hurled to the floor. Even more miraculous was the escape of Mr Sibbin, the Gas Company’s employee, who had been endeavouring to trace the gas leak in the living room. Here the wreckage beggared description There was hardly a floor board left intact and not a scrap of furniture in the room had escaped. Even the piano was leaning at an angle against the wall. Mr Sibbin said that when he entered the living room the smell of gas was not particularly strong and he thought that it was only the result of the blowing out of the meter. He examined the meter and found there was no leak there and then took up a piece of floor boarding. “My impression after that was as it a blow had been struck which hit me in every part of ray body,” Mr Sibbin said. “I do not think 1 actually heard the explosion. It was just as if I had been picked up and hurled to the floor. As soon as I regained my senses rny first thought was to get out of the building and take the necessary steps to prevent any outbreak of fire, and it was then that I heard the cries of the women in the shop.”

Scenes of confusion followed the explosion. It was several minutes before Mrs Harrison and Doreen Catchpolc were extricated from the wreckage in the shop, and it is providential that the fire did not immediately gain a strong hold. Mr E. Orman, the window of whose shop on the opposite side of the street was wrecked, was one of those who went to the rescue of the people inside the ruined building. “ I was in the shop,” he said, “when 1 heard the explosion and the splintering of my own plate-glass windows. I rushed out into the street, and the air seemed to be filled with smoke and dust.

“I saw Mr Sibbin stagger through the door of the shop, and as I ran

across the street i could hear women’s voices calling for help. In a few minutes the street was crowded. The counter was shifted sufficiently for Mrs Harrison to be dragged clear, and the girl Catch pole was also quickly rescued.” Several people who were on the scene immediately after the explosion said that Mr Sibbin reentered the shop and assisted in liberating Mrs Harrison. Other helpers assisted in getting Mr Harrison out of the shop. He appeared to be badly dazed. All the injured persons were taken to a nearby chemist’s shop, and later five of them were taken to hospital. Apparently there were no pedestrians immediately outside the shop at the time of the explosion, otherwise they could hardly have escaped injury from the flying glass. In addition to the wreckage of windows on the opposite side of the street, gramophone records were thrown to the floor and smashed in a music shop fully 50 yards away. Shortly after the explosion police were on the scene, while a gang of workmen was quickly summoned to remove hanging pieces of debris which might have been dangerous to pedestrians. The building is owned by Mr P. W. Court, of Onehunga, and is insured in the Royal Office for £I2OO. The contents of the living rooms behind and above Mr Harrison’s shop were insured, but there was no cover on the stock, A considerable amount of damage was done in the upstairs rooms, but living quarters above Mr Hardgrave’s shop escaped any serious damage.