BLAZE AT DUNEDIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 80, 6 April 1942, Page 3

BLAZE AT DUNEDIN

DAMAGE ABOUT £lOO,OOO •'.P.A. • Dunedin, April 5. Sweeping a long, narrow path ol destruction from Rattray Street to High Street, one of the most spectacular tires ever seen in Dunedin gutted in the early hours this morning lour well-known blocks of buildings and caused damage estimated at about £11)0,000. The buildings destroyed were the Carlton Hotel and Carlton Chambers in high Street and Paterson’s Buildings and N. and E. S. Patterson's block in Rattray Street. The tire started at 1.10 a.m. at the back of Patersons buildings. So tierce was the blaze that it spread rapidly to the Carlton Hotel, immediately endangering the whole block. Fortunately there was not a breath of wind to assist the Hames to spread, and magnificent work by the city brigades, reinforced by the Emergent \ Fire Service, confined the tire to a comparatively small area, although it could not prevent the gutting of the four blocks of buildings. Altnough residential premises were involved in the lire no loss of life occurred, but there were some remarkable escapes, particularly in the case of two persons who were trapped in a burning building. A serious aspect of the lire is that, ov. mg to war-time restrictions, the >u 1 lings cannot be restored until conditions return to normal. No indication of the insurances could be obtained to-day. but it is understood the main buildings are covered.