EMPIRE THEATED GUTTED

Taranaki Daily News, 24 February 1930, Page 8

EMPIRE THEATED GUTTED

BIG FIRE IN DEVON STREET

DESOLATION INSIDE

CONCRETE WALLS PROTECT SHOPS

There was a blazing furnace inside four concrete walls when the old Empire Theatre, New Plymouth, was completely gutted by fire on Saturday evening. How the fire was caused is unknown, but it apparently began just behind the stage, crept up the back wall and burned furiously in the roof. The building was the property of the estate of the late James Bellringer and was leased by Taranaki Amusements, Ltd. The insurance on the building was £l2OO in the Prudential Assurance Company and the insurance on the Taranaki Amusements, Ltd., was £O5O in the South British and Alliance Company. The theatre had not been used for some months until Saturday, afternoon, when Miss Elwyn Riley’s pupils had used it for a dance rehearsal.

i The fire was steadily gaining hold i while people unconcerned were walking I the streets just outside. Someone saw the smoke just after 9 o’clock and thought it came from the smokehouse of a fish-shop. Half an hour later Mr. R. R. B, Millman, New Plymouth,_ who was watching the swimming carnival from the roof of the New Plymouth municipal baths, saw the clouds of smoke and the reddish glow of the fire in the sky. He jumped into his car and set but to find it and~then- gave the alarm at the station.

With three leads of hose the brigade set to work and found the blaze difficult to - deal with. Beneath the iron root the flat ceiling of the theatre was made of large sheets of tin. As soon as the hose was played on the ceiling they fell in a crashing shower to the floor. . '•

Some of the firemen took a ladder in and worked oh the fire at the back of the building. Another party worked infrom the front, reaching the dress circle with the hose from the balcony. Others of the men set to work from the roof. “The watering in the guttering was almost boiling,” said one of the firemen.

It took the brigade half an hour to get the fire under control. It already had a strong grip on the building when the brigade arrived. The fire was out shortly after 11 and the brigade left at 11.20. “The men worked very well, ■ said Superintendent A. Boon. "It was a big, ugly place to tackle.”

Dense crowds filled the streets dur-, ing the fife. Excellent work in controlling the crowds was done by the fire police. Traffic inspectors kept Devon Street free of motor-cars.

The theatre, yesterday morning was a place of desolation. From the outside the front was just as usual. Bill boards still announced coming attractions. But inside there was left only the skeleton of the building. Across, underneath the blackened iron roof, were great beams half eaten through. The stage had been almost consumed, Water still dripped from the charred remains of the dress' circle.

Only on the untouched’ floor were the rows and rows of seats, still standing, which had seen the last and most, sen* sational spectacle ever staged in ths old place of entertainment.