FIRES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3804, 8 February 1927, Page 25

FIRES.

BLAZE AT BURNHAM CAMP. CHRISTCHURCH, January 31. An outbreak of fire on the parade ground at' Burnham camp yesterday morning caused a stir, and the troops had a hot time extinguishing the blaze. The fire .was. lighted to burn some grass, hut it got out of control, for a while. The whole camp was called out to fight the flames, which spread rauidly because of the dryness of the grass. One tent was burned before the blaze was put out, and several of the fire-fighters were singedTHREE HOUSES . DESTROYED. ‘ 1 HAMILTON. February 3. A fire at Huntly to-day destroyed the residence occupied by Messrs Magill, P. Sefton, and H. Kinniard. The three residences were side by side, out of the water area in. the township. The furniture of Messrs Kinniard’s and Sefton’s houses was safely removed. HOUSE DESTROYED AT OPOHO. A four-roomed house,, situated in Warden street. Opoho was practically gutted by fire early on Thursday morning. The City Brigade received the call at 3.52 a.m., and when the machines arrived on the scene it was found that the fire had a strong hold. The dwelling was owned and occupied By Mr.F. J. Heise. As he intended to leave during the week for Waimate, the contents of the house were packed. Only a few articles were saved. Ihe dwelling was insured for £5OO with the Victoria Company and the contents for £l5O with the South British Company.

BLAZE IN VOGEL STREET. The promptitude of the City Fire Brigade in turning out to a call from \ ogel street at ' about- 11 o’clock on Wednesday night probably saved General Motors (New Zealand), Ltd., several ■ thousands of pounds. As it is the company will, suffer the loss of about £2OOO as a result of the fire which broke out in its Inrge store. Half a dozen new . Buick cars just assembled from the poking case were seriously damaged, three at least valued-at several hundred pounds each being total wrecks when the brigade forced an entrance. The six ears badly effected were stored in one end of the buildffiE. and not 10ft away stood a row of .new models, about 20 in all. The entire mus t have comprised about 40 lc ' es * . though it was difficult to make ~<in accurate survey on account of the dense black smoke which filled the/store. The damage \vas by no means confined ,to the few cars mentioned. .The larger collection had no protection from fire, : qr water beyond a calico covering, and in most cases damage of a more or less serious nature was done. fhe cause of the outbreak could not be ascertained last night. A police constable on patrol duty noticed the electric light wires connected with the building on fire ana he gave the alarm. The brigade was quickly on the spot, but the fire must have been blazing merrily inside the building for some time before the alarm was given, by the complete destruction of . three ot the cars. From the condition of two cars in one corner near the main entrance,- and just outside the office, it would appear that the fire originated in that quarter. Sqnie dismantled packing cases in the corner evidently- conducted the fife to the roof where it was just commencing to break when the brigade’s three leads of hose reduced the crackling flames'to clouds of smoke. By. the time the fire was checked the machine arrived from the South Dunedin Station with a full crew, who were soon busy removing the cars from the damaged section-of the building through the back entrance to Cumberland street. When the superficial damage to the larger number of cars is reckoned Up. and when structural damage has been assessed, it will no doubt be found that the total loss will be a good deal in excess of £2OOO. It was impossible to secure any particulars about insurances last night.

A FORTUNATE SAVE. A glance round the fire-ravaged building on Thursday confirmed the first imprepssion that- the fine work of the fire brigade averted what would probably have been the most serious motor fire that has ever occurred in the city. The flames have taken more or less heavy toll, of a score of assembled cars, while about 10 others still in cases will probably be damaged about the .hoods and upholstery. But of the -total of--60 cars in the store only half a dozen aru past repairing. No definite conclusion as to the cause of the fire has yet been arrived at, but the The insurances are handled by the head fnuief is that it started in a rubbish bin and spread to a number of packing casxs. office iti Wellington, and particulars of them are not yet available. A LAUNCH DESTROYED. The 40-foot pleasure launch Nelson, which was owned by Mr J. Vivian and several other Macandrew Bay boating men, was totally destroyed by fire atout 10.15 on Friday night. The boat, which was formerly a naval, cutter, was not insured, and the owners will be heavy losers. The Nelson conveyed a party to the city from Macandrew Bay early on Friday evening. She had returned to her moorings and landed her passengers. /Two men—Messrs A. Ledgerwood and D. Whitburn—remained on board. Mr Ledgerwood, struck a match to look for. some article in the cabin. The naked light evidently came into contact with fumes from a leak in the benzine tank. There was a sudden explosion, Mr Ledgerwood being blown through the cabin door. He was not injured, but was slightly singed about the face. The launch burst into flames, and the two men made an attempt to extinguish the outbreak. The fire, however, quickly spread, and in a few minutes the boat was burning fiercely from end to end. The men* realising' that the launch was doomed, IoH no time in getting ashore. ; ’ - The glare made by the. devouring flames illuminated the water and shore over a wide area, and a large number of residents gathered near the boatshed and watched the destruction of the boat. It was at first decide to attempt to cuttle the Nelson, , but it was then thought that if this were successful an explosion would follow and

damage would be done to boats on near-by moorings. ■_The owners of the Nelson are . most unfortunate. They had been working on tha boat for some months past getting, her in good running order. The trip to the upper hanbotir ,’ast night was the most successful as far as the smooth running of the engine was concerned, since the general-overhaul work was completed. 1 BLAZE IN FEILDING. ' FEILDING. February 5. As the termination to local carnival week, a mock court was being held last night in Manchester square, when a firm, alarm was raised. It was found that a sixroomed dwelling in South street, owned by Mrs Kerridge. was in flames. The brigade saved the adjoining house, but the dwelling was practically gutted, f a few articles of furniture, including a piano, being saved. The insurances are- not available. TWO STOREYED HOUSE DESTROYED. BLENHEIM, February-5. A two-storey house in St. Andrews, occupied by Mrs L.*H. Rainey and family, was totally destroyed by fire yesterday evening. The husband was absent at the time in the country, and there.were eight children in the house. Mrs Rainey had some difficulty in collecting ana marshalling them to safety, and she'was in Ax state of collapse when neighbours arrived. The children range from a baby one year old to a boy of 14. The house was insured for £250. and the contents for £2OO. Practically alt the contents were destro’-ed.