GREAT TIMBER FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 October 1921, Page 11

GREAT TIMBER FIRE.

OUTBREAK IN LON3ON. ACRES OF BURNING WOOD. ESTIMATED DAMAGE £250,000. Following a demonstration by thousands of unemployed men, a serious fire broke out recently at the premises of Messrs. J. Gliksten and son Ltd.., timber merchants, close to the boundary line between London and Essex. The timber yard occupies an area of twenty-one acres, and a large proportion of the contents was destroyed. Trouble had arisen owing to the disappointment of some 4000 men who had waited outside the offices of the firm in response to an advertisement in the papers for a number of porters. According to the terms of the advertisement, application was to be made at 7.30 a.m., but many of the men had been waiting for some hours. Only twenty-four men were wanted. The presence of such a crowd led to trouble, and, according to the police reports, at nine o’clock some of the men broke open the gates of the timber yard, into which hundreds of others swarmed. Another crowd assembled ph a piece of vacant land and threw stones and other missiles at the buildings, breaking a large number of windows. It was at this stage that wliat was described as- a deliberate attempt to fire a stack was alleged to have been made, but was frustrated by the police, who had been sent on in response to urgent messages from the firm. No time was lost in mobilising additional forces of police until they were present in sufficient numbers to quell any disturbance and gradually to disperse the crowd. No arrests were made, and only one case of injury occurred, a constable being cut on the head by a stone. The. premises were guarded by a force of mounted police during the afternoon.

The outbreak of fire which occurred in the tim-ber yard proved to be of wide extent, but it was not attributed by the manager to the demonstrators, and he informed a Press representative that the firm regard the cause as a mystery. By one o’clock 17 A acres of the total area, all closely stacked with valuable timber, were involved. The yard runs by the side of a canal, which connects with the River Lea, and all the timber being very dry, the flames spread rapidly. A brigade call was sent out, and the firemen arrived in time to save a series of shops and offices. Practically all the remainder of the yard was blazing. The mill and a number of buildings, housing mechanics’ shops and transport vehidles, were completely destroyed. A crane toppled over into the middle of the burning mass. A large shed containing stores and a cottage and some offices on the other side of the canal were at one time in danger, and this menace called for energetic efforts from the firemen. But soon the wind changed, and blew the flames away from the canal, so that by three o'clock these buildings were considered quite safe. In fact, the flames did not qu-’te reach the edge of the water. Engines were sent over the. canal, and hoses were directed on the flames across the canal, and this helped to prevent the spread of the fire in that direction. By three o'clock the fire was under control on three sides, the fourth side being protected by the canal. Among the buildings destroyed was an up-to-date sawmill, which had only just been completed with costly machinery. .Thousands of people gathered in the vFdinity of the outbreak, which provided a magnificent spectacle’as shafts of flame alternated with rolling columns of smoke. It was estimated that the damage would amount to £250,000.