FIRE ON CUMBERLAND

Taranaki Daily News, 11 February 1933, Page 11

FIRE ON CUMBERLAND

EARLY MORNING OUTBREAK. " ESTIMATED DAMAGE: £2OO. Christchurch, Feb. \9. Shortly Before one o’clock this morning, an outbreak of' fire was discovered in No. 4 hold of the Federal liner Cumberland, which arrived' at; Lyttelton yesterday from Wellington, and was berthed at Gladstone Pier to load for London. Over a hundred bales,of flax were destroyed before the fire was put out shortly before 5 am. Though the decking above the hold was buckled by the heat, the refrigerating plant for the cargo of mutton stored in the hold directly underneath the hemp was unharmed, and the- meat will not suffer 'to any great extent, Spontaneous combustion is considered to be the cause of the outbreak. ? . "i The alarm was given. at one o’clock by two seamen from the vessel,, and immediately afterward one of the harbour board’s dredges, Te Whaka; • gave three long blasts from her whistle. _ln a few minutes, a large crowd gathered on the pier. - Smoke and flames were issuing from the hatch and ventilators, the: fire coming from the bales of flax which had been stowed in tihe shelter, deck. The meat loaded yesterday was stowed in the ’tween decks and lower hold. , ; <■ The Lyttelton Fire Brigade,' Under Superintendent ' R. Carbon, arrived quickly, and was assisted by the ship’s plant As the Lyttelton Harbour Board’s tug was temporarily out of commission,, the Te Whaka was requisitioned, , and soon her powerful pumps were in action. At 1.45 p.m. there was precured an Oxyacetylene plant, ywith' whicti ; <: hole was cut in the deck to accommodate n. hose from the dredge. - ■ • : ; After 2 am., when the fire was.: burn* ing fiercely, two members of the' bri» gade, equipped with smoke helmets* went down. into'.the hatch, and -discovered the seat of the fire in the flax,-and half an hour later, the heavy “volume of water which had been poured in had the fire well under control. There were eight leads; pouring water ontot' ths fire, three from the Te Whaka, three from the ship, and two from the .shore, and more leads were available from the Te Whaka if required.'- " ' : The decks above- the fire were showing sign of -buckling at 2.30, o’clock. Officials considered it very : fortunate that the fire broke out when the ship was at the wharf, rather than when she was at sea. ' ;

. A secondary outbreak occurred when a piece of burning hemp travelled down a large ventilator and into saw-dust just below the hold, containing frozen mutton. This was not noticed until the ventilator cap was removed. Only a few bucketsful of sawdust were burnt, the outbreak being quickly subdued. r " This morning a gang of watersiders was employed at a wage of 4/- an hour to unload the burnt flax from the Cumberland. About six inches of water lay in the hold when a start was made. The hemp was removed by noon. The fire penetrated about an inch through most of the bales, all of which will have to be opened and dried out. They will not be put into .the New Zealand Shipping Company’s store for fear of .’ a further outbreak, but will be dumped on the reclamation,’ covered with tarpaulins. It is considered that the flax will be a total loss.

Two men were injured in fighting the fire, Mr. R. C. Skipage, Lyttelton, manager, of the New Zealand Shipping Company, who stepped backwards to avoid a swinging stringer.. He tripped over a beam, and was knocked unconscious. He received a heavy cut over an eye. One of the crew injured his thigh when he tripped over a hose. The Cumberland will be delayed at Lyttelton one ..day only, : leaving - tomorrow for J’ort Chalmers. Temporary repairs are being , made, to the buckled decking. Permanent, repairs would cost £2OO sterling. ... . ... , ,45