FIRE FIEND AT LARGE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17009, 22 July 1929, Page 7

FIRE FIEND AT LARGE

TWO BUILDINGS IGNITED CHRISTCHTJRCH SENSATION i ■ | ... (Per Frees Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, this day. Damage estimated at £IO,OOO was dene late last night when the bulk store of Messrs. J. M. Hcywood, Ltd., Dundas street, was damaged by fire. The outbreak was, it is believed, the work of a fire maniac who is at large in the city. A padlock was missing from the front door of the building, which was open. Earlier in the evening slight damage was done to the sample rooms of Messrs. Ambler and Co. in Hereford Place, by an ineendiarist, who smashed glass panes in the door and set fire to a cloth cover over some goods. Heywood's building was full of cases, the property of clients of the company. These had apparently been deliberately ignited, and the dry timber of the cases and furniture burnt furiously., When the head storcman left the premises at noon on Saturday, the building was safe, and was carefully locked up. The outbreak was discovered at 11.22 p.m. yesterday. With a constable only 10 yards away, the ineendiarist- set fire at about 8 o'clock to the sample rooms of Ambler and Co., which was next to tho garage of R. C. Dobson, which twice previously had been set alight. Slight damage was 'done when the fire was detected. A glass panel in a door had been smashed. Stuffed into this gap was a white, motorist's dustcoat, which is jiow '"in" : t% possession-of the police. It is probable that the ineendiarist used the coat to cover his hahd when he smashed the glass in the door. He apparently put a light to a .cloth dust cover which had been laid oveT goods. This cover was burnt, and the goods which were underneath were badly charred, but £25 will cover the damage. IThe fires have seriously perturbed the police and fire brigade officers. Hcywoods' was the fifth of 'a series of suspicious fires inside a fortnight. The opinion is held among responsible officers that there is someone with a mania for causing fires in the city. Last night the city and suburban police were specially warned to be on the outlook for fires, and to take special note of anything of a suspicious nature. The fire which occurred on Sunday, July 13, destroying £4OOO worth of stock at Bing Harris and Co.'s warehouse, is now believed to be also the work of an ineendiarist.