DESTROYED BY FIRE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26996, 3 February 1949, Page 6

DESTROYED BY FIRE

WOODEN DOMITORY BLOCK STATE FOREST PROPERTY Special to the Daily Times NELSON, Feb. 2. An uncompleted wooden dormitory block of an estimated value of £14,000 was completely destroyed by fire at the Golden Down State Forest last evening. Fire-fighting equipment was brought into use five minutes after the alarm was given, but the flames had too strong a hold. The block, the second of its kind, was being built to provide sleeping quarters for 35 men. Ablution and drying rooms and a lounge were also included. There was a total floor space of 7000 feet. The constructional part of the building had been completed, and only the interior fittings and plumbing remained to be done.. The timber was very dry, having been removed from the Delta camp in Marlborough. , The fire was prevented from spreading to another dormitory block only a few yards away. Carpenters engaged on the building had' been sleeping in the cubicles, and some of them lost their personal belongings and tools. One of the largest fire-fighting gangs ever mustered in the district worked to exhaustion point in an endeavour to control a fire which swept hundreds of acres of privately-owned pine plantations between Harakeke and Motueka, on the Tasman coast road, in the heart of the apple lands, yesterday afternoon. Mr D. Bramwell, of Tasman, whose orchard adjoins the plantations, suffered a heavy loss when fire destroyed his packing shed, containing fruit cases and packing materials.