BOOT FACTORY FIRE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144134, 2 July 1913, Page 7

BOOT FACTORY FIRE.

AN INQUIRY. An inquiry was conducted at the Courthouse to-day before Mr. A. Crooke, S.M., into the circumstances attending the lire at the Egmont Boot Eactory on the 22nd ultimo. Mr. Quilliam explained that tho inquiry' was being hold at, the instance of the New Plymouth Eire Board for whom he appeared. Mr. E. Wilson appeared on behalf of Mr. Hal Goodaore, proprietor of tho Egmont Boot Factory. T. C. List, editor and proprietor of tho Daily News, stated that the Boot Factory was closo to his office. Ho left his office on tho night in question at 12.15, and proceeded towards the Carrington Road in tho direction of Ins home. When near the Boot Factory ho saw lights from the front and side windows on tho ground floor and when ho was right opposite the factory he heard something fall and went across tho road to seo what was the cause of the trouble. Looking through one of the wmllows he saw a fire blazing in the western end room. Tho lire bad got a good bold, and seemed to him to bo in the middle* of the room. He saw no one about in the neighbourhood and dashed to the Eire Brigade Station and gave the alarm. Trie, brigade was promptly on the scone. It was a calm Hal Goodacre stated that tho Boot Factory had a wooden front to Courtenay Street with corrugated iron sides and roof. The site of the front portion of the building had been excavated from the back so that tho lower part of tho front of the building .formed a basement. The ground position of the huilding-.consistcd of two. offices at tho eastern end of the building, a warehouse in tho centre, and the stock room at tho western end. The only moans of access in use to the stock room was , a door loading from the warehouse. The. factory portion of the building was upstairs nnct at the back. Access to the factory from tho warehouse was gained by a flight, of stairs "be leather room was upstairs and to the rear of tho stock room. There was no lighting or heating arrangements in.the stock room. On the rare occasions when it was necessary to go into the stock room after dark a portable lamp was used. The stock consisted of goods of their own manufacture and imported stock. Ho took stock at Christmas lime and hud not checked the quantity since. It Would have boon possible for a considerable quantity of stock to bo removed without his knowledge. On the date of the fire ho was at Manganui and received the news by telephone on tho Sunday. He was frequently absent from Now Plymouth in connection with his business, when his son Herbert took charge. Generally speaking tho storeman had charge of the stock room whether witness was there or not. Ho left New Plymouth on June 11 and returned on the 23« L, the day following the fire. Ho immediately made an examination of the promises. Appearances seemed to indicate that the fire originated in a /corner of the store room. He was pre--sont when Dio papers (produced) were ’ found in the corner of the store room. They wore cash dockets of tho Iv Boot 1 Company but he could give no reason why they should have been found jn Die store room. Ho was also present' when the piece of burnt canvas (produced) was taken from under the stock room. This appeared to be a piece of packing canvas which was generally thrown out into a hack shed when taken off goods. Ho did no* think it could have been in tho store room and fallen through ' when the floor burned. There was £ISOO insurance on Die stock in tho South British and United Offices. Stock included machinery, so that the insurance on *ho contents of the factory was £ISOO. There was £SOO on the building in the Commercial Union Office. He estimated the damage to the building at £3ll, which was Die amount of his claim agaiust the insurance company. He estimated that the damage to the ebook was over £3000; over £IOOO worth of which was in tho store-room downstairs. In making his 1 estimate he had allowed, for sales.lrom . the the stere-noom. His fulLdaim in connection with the stock had been au- , milled-hy the Insurance Company, viz. .£I6OO. An examination of the debris after the fine would indicate the quanjtity of stock iu tho store-room at the time of the fire. There were three: sets of .keys to the promises. To Mr. Wilson: He did not mean to/ say that Die fire originated m the stock-room. He thought it originated outside and broke through in the corner. Tho heavy timbers for instance! were charred much-more on tho under-, side than on top. At the bottom of the! building, between the iron and tho Hn-. ing, part of the heavy timber was burned entirely away. Between the. iron and lining of the building hr that: corner tho fire must have bean raging: for a considerable time, indjeating to? his mind that tho fire was burning fori some Dme before it got inside. Herbert Goodacre stated that ,ho was] omployod'by his father as manager and? traveller. Daring his father's absence! lie took charge and was in charge on: June 31. He looked over tho factory shortly after 12.30, after the staff had; loft, ami saw that all was right. He called at tho factory again at Bxlo in., the evening to leave a sample slipper ho had obtained from an English traveller. He was only in tho factory a couple of minutes. He did not go into tho store-room. Ho did not strike a match; Dig street light in front of the building provided quite sufficient light for any one acquainted' with the building. Wbpn the fireboH rang he was in bed. Ho wont to the fire and assisted tho brigade to extinguish it. The following morning he inspected the premises. Ho had never seen any of tho “K” Cash Boot Co. dockets lying about the factory Mid had never seen any in the store-room; neither had lie seen any canvas there. There was no, rubbish in tho corner where the fire started. To Mr. Wilson: There was no sign of anyone having forced an entrance to the building. J. W. Nodder, storeman at the Egmont Boot Factory, said in this capacity he frequently had to go into iluT store-room for tho purpose of fulfilling orders. It was his duty to seo that tho room was kept in an orderly state. He remembered being in tho room two or throe Dmcs on Saturday morning, June 21, and he did not notice any loose inflammable material in the room. He did mot see any of tho “K” Boot Company’s dockets there. There were some bill-heads in one of the pigeon holes and the papers may have been among these. He was a smoker, but never smoked on the factory premises. He left the premises on the 21st ult. at about 11.45. Ho was not at the fire. Goods were packed and unpacked in the warehouse. To Mr. Wilson; The corner of the store-room was quite clear. F. C. J. Bellringer, superintendent of the New Plymouth Fire Brigade, stated that his business premises were , close Je B^-l'iKHi^wßh.whhh

ho was familiar. Ho was present at the fire in his official capacity and directed operations. He made an examination of tho premises immediately after tho fire had been got under control and formed the opinion that the fire occurred in the corner of tho storeroom. At that time ho had not inspected tho outside of the building. Subsequently ho made a more detailed inspection of the building, but saw nothing whatever to make him alter tho conclusions he had arrived at as the result of his first inspection. He was still of the opinion that the fire originated in the corner of the store-room. He had had a good many years’ experience of fires and it was one of his duties to trace their origin. He was present when the slip? of paper (produced) were found. They wore found under the shelving about two feet from where the floor was burned through, and its appearance suggested that it might have been used to assist tbe fire. The canvas (produced) was found underneath tho corner of the building. It was of the same material as that used to pack sprigs in. There was a largo quantity of this material on the premises.

To Mr. Wilson: His opinion was that tho fire had been, intentionally caused. The area of the floor burned through was about two feet square. The floor plates were 4in. x 4in., and that on the northern wall was not even marked by fire on top, but underneath ,was considerably charred. Tho floor plates on tho western side wore also burned considerably more on the lower side than on the upper. Assuming his theory, that tho fire started inside, to be correct, there would have had to be a big body of fire in the corner to burn a hole through the floor. The outer wall did not reach to the ground, and it would have been possible to start a lire from the outside, but if so the fire would, in his opinion, have travelled further under the building. He had noticed a box against tho wall on the outside, and he believed it was there at tho time of the fire. It woukl not, however, have lessened the draught to any marked extent, so that the fire would bo confined more particularly in tho corner of the, building. To the Coroner: He was of opinion that the fire had been burning for some considerable time before it was discovered —an hour and a half or two hours. Detective-Sergeant Boddam stated that ho visited the scene of the fire at, daybreak on the 22nd ult. He did not form any opinion on that occasion as to the origin of the fire. He had made further investigations and inquiries, but was unable to form an opinion \s to how the fire was started, whether accidental or otherwise. Ho was of opinion that the fire started in the comer of the store-room, on tho inside of the building. He had exhausted all the material available, and failed to ascertain anything as to tho cause of tho fire. To Mr. Wilson; Tho fire could have been started under the floor. To Mr. Quilliam: But in his opinion this fire was not started underneath tho building. To the Coroner;'He did not think an adjournment of the inquiry would be of any advantage,. because he had made the fullest possible inquiries. Herbert Goodaore, re-called by his Worship, stated that when he went to assist the Fire Brigade all the windows through which it was possible for anyone to force an entrance were locked. Ho was positive he locked tho front door when lie left. He could not say whether ho was smoking or not when he went into tho warehouse. Ho did not go near the store-room. He did not notice tiro slightest smoll of burn-, ing. His opinion was that tho fire was started from tho outside. A quantity of scrim had been removed from tho back of the premises and a drum of tar and petroleum had also boon disturbed. Hal Goodacre, re-called by Mr. Wilson, stated tint he estimated the valno of the building and contents on thonight of the fire at £9OOO.

Mr. Quilliam, addressing tho court, said tho evidence was consistent with tho view that tho fire was not accidentally caused.

The Coroner said that although the evidence negatived that tho fire was accidental it was hardly sufficient tor him to find that the place was wilfully set on fire. He would bring in an open verdict, that the building was damaged by fire, but could not upon the evidence find by what means the fire originated. ■,