FIRE ON SHIP.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 683, 9 February 1933, Page 10

FIRE ON SHIP.

EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO HEMP CARGO. Blaze on Cumberland. HEAT MAKES IRON DECKING WHITE HOT. Over a hundred bales of hemp were destroyed when fire broke out on the steamer Cumberland at Lyttelton early; this morning. The iron decking above the hold became white hot with' tfye flames, and buckled under the strain. The refrigerating plant for the cargo of mutton stored in the hold directly underneath the hemp was not damaged, and the meat did not suffer to any considerable extent. Two men were injured in fighting the fire. Mr R. C. Skipage, local manager for Lyttelton for the Union Steam Ship Company, stepped backwards to avoid a swinging stringer, and in the darkness tripped over a heavy iron beam, and was knocked unconscious. He received a severe cut over the eye. A member of the crew, who was assisting at the fire, tripped over a hose and fell heavily on the .iron deck, injuring his thigh. Spontaneous Combustion? Spontaneous combustion is considered to have been the of the outbreak in the heap of tightly-packed bales. The fire, which was discovered shortly before 1 -a.rib, was put out before 5 a.m., after the crew, members of the Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Harbour Board’s dredge, Te Whaka, had played thousands of gallons of water on to it. Four shillings' an hour was the wage paid to watersiders who assisted in unloading the burnt hemp from the hold of the Cumberland this morning. Only one gang was employed in the hold, which was clear of the damaged cargo by noon. Though the fire penetrated only about an inch through most of the bales, that was sufficient to cause a loss of 'strength in the fibre, and to shorten /the strands. All of the bales will have to be opened up and dried out, a£ they are soaked with water. They will not be put into the New Zealand Shipping Company’s store at Lyttelton because of the risk of a further outbreak, but will probably be heaped on a portion of the reclamation area and covered with tarpaulins. It is considered that the hemp is a total loss. Another Outbreak Discovered. A piece of burning hemp travelled down the largest of the ventilators and into the layer of sawdust stored just below the hold which contained the frozen mutton. It set the sawdust smouldering. This outbreak was not noticed until the ventilator cap was removed. Only a few bucketsful of sawdust were burned, the second outbreak being caught in its earliest stages. That it was very fortunate that the fire should have happened while the vessel was at the wharf, rather than at sea, was the general opinion of officials who inspected the damage this morning. Besides assistance from members of the crew’, the fire-fighters included the full complement of thirteen from the Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade. Two leads of hose were run from the shore, three from the ship, and three from the Te. Whaka. The salt water pumped by the Te Whaka was a great factor in subduing the fire. The steamer will be delayed in Lyttelton by only one day, and is expected to leave the port to-morrow even ing for Port Chalmers. In the meantime temporary repairs to the decking are being effected. Depth of Water in Hold. If permanent repairs are made to the buckled decking it will involve an estimated expenditure of about £2OO. The hundred bales of hemp, which are a total loss, w’ere dumped on the Gladstone Pier this morning, and were guarded by firemen in case of a further outbreak. About six inches of water lay in the hold this morning, when a start was made with the unloading of the hemp. Bags of sawdust were brought up from below and scattered about the floor to absorb some of the moisture, and men armed with buckets were busy in nailing: out the rest of the water. One of the wooden casings which carry the insulating apparatus to the lower decks was burned beyond repair, and the heat from the iron decking above raised large blisters on the paint of a lifeboat hanging directly overhead. Two holes w r ere bored through the hot iron to allow the hose to play straight down on the fire, the heavy smoke from which interrupted the work of the fire-fighters. The Cumberland is a vessel of 10,937 tons gross register and belongs to the fleet of the Federal Steam Navigation Company, Ltd. She was built in 1919 and is classed A 1 at Lloyd’s. On her arrival at Lyttelton yesterday morning from Wellington, loading of a cargo of wool, meat and tallow for London was begun, and she was scheduled to leave to-day for Port Chalmers.