FIRE IN SYDNEY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5885, 2 October 1890, Page 2

FIRE IN SYDNEY.

— » ENORMOUS CONFLAGRATION IN THE HEART OF THE CITY. NUMBER OF FIREMEN INJURED. AN IMPRESSIVE SIGHT. TREMENDOUS LOSS OF PROPERTY [By Electric Telegraph.— Copyright. — Pt,r Press Ass'n— Red. Oct. 2, 10.40 a.m.] Sydney, Oct. 2. The most destructive fire which has ever occurred in Sydney begun at two (/clock tin's morning in Gibb's, Shallard, and Co. s printing warehouse. The building is situated in the heart of the city in a dense block of premises bound by Pitfc Cnstlereagh, King, and Hunter streets) . containing some of the finest and raosb massively built warehouses and business premises in Sydney. The buildings are all of stone and brick, and three to five storeys in height. The flames spread with alarming rapidity, and the Southern Club and Feldheim, Gotthelf and Co.'s large warehouse were soon a seething mass of flames. When these buildings had fairly caught, the conflagration had assumed such dimensions that for the time the brigades were entirely overpr.wered, and chere seemed little prospect of preventing the destruction of the whole block. One of the Club walls fell, injuring several firemen, and the wind begau to increase, giving further play to the flames. Lark and Sons big dry goods establishment \jras the next enveloped, and the fire quickly raged through it from the lop to the bottom. At this time the wall of Gibbs, Shallard's place fell, injuring another fireman. The wind then changed and drove the (lames in the opposite direction upon the large edifices in Pitt street. Bull and Co. 'a four storey soft goods warehouse caught, together with Richardson and Wrench's (auctioneers) next door. Bull and Co. 's was quickly ruined, and the City Bank was then enveloped ia the general destruction. Another wall fell, this time from Bull's warehouse, crashing through the roof of Richardson and Wrench's. Unfortunately the fall was again attended with injury to firemen, three of whom were badly hurt, and only with great difficulty rescued from the avulanche of beams and stones. Park and Laooy's machinery store in Clarence street, a lane running through the block, and Lawson and Son's huge furniture warehouse on the Pitt street frontage of the block, were the next to go. At the back of the latter,- fronting on Castlereagh street, a short distance below the Theatre Royal, is the Athanseum Club, a fine building only erected some three years ago. This was also burnt out. Twenty-five brigades were engaged, and large forces of the Permanent Militia kept the streets clear. At the height of the conflagration, when the whole centre of the block waa' in flames, the sight was impressively grand. It is impossible at present to estimate the damage or give the number of buildings destroyed, but the loss will be enormous, the value of the buildings alone, irrespective of their contents, probably amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The fire raged for four hours before ifc was got under control.