WELLINGTON FIRE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 29, 4 February 1939, Page 10

WELLINGTON FIRE.

NEW TEMPORARY BUILDING READY IN SIX WEEKS STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER I Ter Pres» Atscciation.] WELLINGTON, Feh. 3. Within a few hours of the fire which created such havoc in Aitken Street yesterday arrangements had been made by the Government for an immediate start with the erection of temporary offices for the Social Security Department on railway land in Aotea Quay. Mechanical equipment for the levelling of the ground was taken to the site yesterday afternoon in readiness to start work this morning. The actual construction will begin on Monday. The situation was discussed at meeting of Cabinet yesterday. Tl: Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, said lh< the Minister of Finance, Mr. Nas . the Minister of Public Works, M Semple, and the Minister of Railway Mr. Sullivan, had subsequently cot ferred with Mr. James Fletcher, ipresenting the Fletcher Constructs Company, for the purpose of provu ing office quarters for the Social S< curity Department. It was not possible, Mr. Sa\a._ said, to rent suitable offices in We lington, and as it was advisable 1 leave the former site for a permanet structure the Aotea site had bee ' chosen. The aim was to have Hi temporary' offices there completed t April 1, when the Social Security Ac would come into operation. Two Ten-hour Shifts. Mr. James Fletcher, maanagir director of tne fjetcher Construclic Company, in an interview last nigi said that the new building in Aok Quay would be on the same principle as tne Aitken Street premises. it Fletcher Company ana the Love Cor struction Company were combinir with the Public Works Department 1 erect the building in six weeks’ lim •This;’ said Mr. Fletcher, "w

necessitate tne working ot two i - hour shifts, and it is anticipated that approximately 150 men wei be required for each shirt. Mr. J. hoou. Engineer-in-Chief ot the Fubik Works Department, has already arranged lor the necessary excavation. One of the large ouiidozers I from Ngahauranga Gorge has arrived I on the site ana a start win be maue . to-morrow. ”The Government architect, Mr. J.i T. Mair, has a big task in redesign- ’ ing the general framing or the structure to make use ot available timbers. Certain general nnishes in tn. building have to be altered also t<> meet tne change in materials, but the standard ot work will be as hign as possible. The exterior finishes win ue carried out on modern designs as .• as the plaster work is concerned. “We propose to use the factory ot the housing division, the Cabie Si reel factory' ana the exhibition factory toi the manufacture of the whole or the joinery and dress lines. \\ e have ample stock of dry materials, so that there will be no snortage ot finishing timbers. "There will be no difficulty in man ning the job,” adaed Mr. Fietchei. "It might mean a slowing-up ot two of our principal contracts in the cii„. but so far as the exhibition is concerned, there will practically be no slowing-up on that contract. "It will be necessary to close portion ot the roadway leading from the ramp, but as it is a double-track hignway this should cause no inconvenience to the travelling public. Loss of Public Money. Mr. Savage said the building destroyed was erected as a temporal y structure. "It did not look very' temporary to me; 1 thought it might d there for a century yet, nut it w..s mucn more temporary than any of us expected, he said with a smile, it was a disastrous fire, ft has enuseu a loss of public money, and a certain amount ot inconvenient-?. One ot the most regrettable features of thfire was the destruction oi the home? of persons in the vicinity, and l>wanted to express his sympatny ana the sympathy of the Government wiln those who had been burnt out. Mr. Semple said that the foundations for tne temporary building in Aotea Quay would be levelled m a few hours. "No one need be alarmed about any hitch being caused by the fire,” he said, "as the Public works Department, in co-operation with the Fletcher Construction Company, has equipment and men to rush up a temporary structure in time equal to anything in the world. The men who were working on the burned-out building will not lose any time, as they are being transferred straight to the Aotea Quay job. Everything will be done to make good the loss. Mr. Semple said that there was nothing tn show what caused the lirt. The building had been free from inflammable materials. apart from those used in construction, and everything w’as in good order when it was left on Wednesday night. MR. SEMPLE’S COMMENT •' HAS GRAVE SUSPICIONS ” I Per Press Associstion.] WELLINGTON, Feb. 3. The Government had no desire to erect, timber buildings if it was at all possible to avoid doing so, and was pushing on as rapidly as adverse building conditions permitted with the erection of permanent buildings, said the Minister of Public Works, Hon. R. Semple, commenting on the destruction of the Social Security building. Circumstances had forced the Government to build in wood when the structure was planned. Asked if he would comment on the origin of the fire the Minister said: “I have my own opinions about it. I have grave suspicions.” He added that the building, which was being erected by the Public Works Department, was covered by the usual Government insurance fund. Although no formal resolution hearing on the fire was passed by the Wei-

lington Fire Board at its meeting the opinion was expressed that the action of the Government in erecting the So- | cial Security building in wood within i the brick area of the city contravened 11he by-laws and was against the in- | terests of the community. • The chairman, Mr. S. S. Dean, conveyed to the superintendent, Mr. C. A. Woolley, his officers and men, the board’s appreciation and thanks for the very line-work done and also to Mr C. H. Glover, a city milk roundsman, in giving prompt alarm. The erection of a large building in such materials as used in the security building in a closely-built area was a very ser.ous matter, said Mr. Dean. He was not criticising the present. Government in particular, for the same thing had been done .by past Governments over many years. Where a brick area was created no Government or local authoiity should be permitted to use other th in fire-resislant materials.