FIRE IN STORE

Southland Times, Issue 20833, 23 July 1929, Page 8

FIRE IN STORE

INCENDIARIST AT WORK HEAVY DAMAGE DONE POLICE AND BRIGADE PERTURBED (Per United Press Association.) Christchurch, July 22. Damage estimated at £10,090 was done late last night when the bulk store of J. M. Heywood, Ltd., in 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, the building being' open. Earlier in the .evening slight damage was done to the sample rooms of Ainbler and Company in Hereford Place by an incendiarist who smashed the glass panel in the door and set fire to a cloth cover over some goods. Heywood’s building was full of furniture in cases, the property of clients of the company. This had apparently been deliberately ignited and the dry timber of the cases and furniture burnt furiously. When the head storeman left the premises at noon on Saturday the building was safe and was carefully locked up. The outbreak was discovered at 11.22 on Sunday evening. With a constable only ten yards away the incendiarist set fire about 8 o’clock to the sample rooms of Ambler and Co., which are next to the 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 the door had been smashed. Stuffed into this gap was a motorist’s white dust coat which is now in the possession of the police. It is probable the incendiarist used the coat to cover his hand when he smashed the glass in the door. He apparently put a light to the cloth dust cover which had been laid over the goods. This cover was burnt and the goods which were underneath were badly charred but £2 will cover damage. Another sensational incident during the week-end was an attempt early on Sunday morning to enter the shop of Hammond and Turner, Ltd., the premises in which Mr E. Hammond was seriously wounded by a burglar on Tuesday night. A heavy glass panel was smashed in the front door, but the burglar was unable to manipulate the locks and could not gain admittance. By similar methods the Self-Help grocery shop in Lincoln Road was entered about the same time. Nothing was stolen. Last night’s fires have seriously perturbed the police and the fire brigade officers. Heywood’s was the fifth of the 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 lookout for fires and take a 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 Company’s warehouse, is now also believed to have been the work of the same incendiarist.

The insurances in connection with Heywood’s fire amount to £1250 on the buildings in the Phoenix Office and £3OOO on the stock in the Norwich Union as well as part in other companies.