FIRES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3334, 6 February 1918, Page 25

FIRES.

OUTBREAK IN CHRISTCHURCH. CHRISTCHURCH, January 30 ; Fire broke out early this morning on the premises of tiie New Zealand Coffee and Spice Company, Durham etceet. The outbreak occurred on tho first floor, which was completely gutted, large .quantities of spices being destroyed. Tho efforts of the- brigade prevented the flames from spreading to the ground floor, so that all the company's stock of coffee was saved. Insurances: Stock £3300, plant £4OO, in tho Northern office; buildings £9OO. in the London and Lancashire. It is estimated that tho company's loss over the stock is considerable, but the buildings are not damaged much. Later in the morning a fire occurred in a block of buildings in Manchester street, next the Excelsior Hotel. It started in a shop oooupied by Miss Garland, which was badly damaged, together with the first floor of the building, but the brigade prevented the fire from spreading. The &hop.was insured for £SOO in tho Union of Canton office. KOLBERG"3 ACCOMMODATION HOUSE DESTROYED. The premises known as Kolberg's Accommodation House, at Pounawea, were totally destroyed by fire about 3.30 on Wednesday morning. The main building consisted of a well-built house of 14 or 35 roome, which, at a rough estimate, was worth £BOO, though it would cost a sum much in excels of that amount to build it nt the present time. There were also outbuildings, the principal being a stable, which was also totally destroyed. The furnishings in tho house were apparently of the best, and included among them was a piano, the cost of which was nearly £ICO. Mr Kolberar died a few years ago, and the house was carried on by Mrs Kolberg up to a recent date, when, owing to the illness of her chief assistant in the business and of herself, she had to close down the establishment, which was left untenanted from then up to the time- of its destruction. Unfortunately, everything, even to bed and table linen, was in the house at the time of the outbreak. It is estimated to havo been -worth about £4OO, so that the total loss amounts to something like £I2OO. Against that there may be some insurance. In the district it is rumoured that there was a policy for £2OO on either building or furnishings, but even if that be true Mrs Kolberg must still bo a heavy loser. Kolberg's was a very wellknown place of accommodation for holidaymakers, some hundreds being put up every holiday season. Luckily for those who make Pounawea the scene' of their annul holiday, there is still a good house of accommodation left in tho little township. Tho cause of the fire is a mystery, o<s no One had been about the place for quite a long time. The fire is said to have originated somewhere about the middle of the building, and as there were no possible means of extinguishing it. the flames very soon spread, and. having gained possession of the entire building, soared upwards between tho four walls in a great volume for about an hour and a-half bnfore the walls fell. What was Kolberg's is now only a square patch of blackened ground, with chimneys and tanks alone remaining. Apart from about £lO worth of tools and the tanks, nothing was saved, and, owing to the intervention of a bucket brigade, there beinsr no wind, the flames did not extend to the waishhouse, which remains intact. Th" Knnieri Saw-mill Company's mill on the Koka'tahi road, West Coast, was totally burnt earlv on the Ist inst. It was insured for £3OO in the United Offi"<\ ' -~