AUCKLAND FIRE

Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 July 1932, Page 5

AUCKLAND FIRE

A STORE GUTTED. SPECTACULAR BLAZE. .AUCKLAND, Sunday. With a roar and crackle that'a'wakened residents for miles around and made a beacon visible in the distant suburbs, a firo gutted the three-storey brick store of Messrs Winstone, Ltd., in Market Place, on the waterfront early this morning, and destroyed stocks of kauri gum and. quantities of building material. The building and its contents were «ost completely destroyed, 'the loss ig estimated at between £60,000 and £70,000. The fire was discovered shortly after 2 a.m. and burned fiercely for over two hours. By daylight the building was reduced to a smouldering shell. The cause of the fire is not known, but the opinion is expressed by Superintendent Wilson, of the Auckland Eire Brigade, that it broke out in the centre of the upper • part of the building, among stocks of kauri gum. The outbreak was first seen by the nightwatchman of a steamer lying at a nearby wharf, and according to him the •whole of the top floor, used by the Kauri Gum Control Board as a store, was ablaze.

Three engines and thirty men were directed to the task of subduing the outbreak, and water was poured on to the flames from half a dozen leads. At first an attempt was made to fight the fire from within the building, but. owing to the intense heat and imminent danger of the upper floors collapsing, Superintendent Wilson withdrew his men and renewed the attack from the outside. It was four o’clock before the fire mas under control. iMbddition to the space occupied by Messrs WinstoA Ltd., the building housed a numbm - of tenants. The top floor was used by the Kauri Gum Control Board for the storage of gum. 'Although it was recently announced that the board was to be dissolved, its functions have not yet been assumed by the Government. The chairman (Mr M. H. Wynyard) stated that the gum held in store -was fully covered by insurance, but in the absence of the stock sheets it was impossible to 'say how much gum was stored there. These papers were in a safe in the destroyed building, but duplicate copies were in existence. One estimate was that the board had between 300 and 400 tons of gum stored on this floor. ■ The middle floor, as well as a lean-to structure built out over the wharf, at ,the rear of the building was occupied by J. Raos, gum broker. He stated that his stocks, which were between 500 and ,600 W;} were valued at from £30.000 to £3c4po. This gum was insured for Lloyds. Winstone, Ltd., .occupied the greater part of the'ground .floor and basement, their stocks being of a non-inflammable description, and included cement, lime, wallboard, and /other building materials. The building, which is considered to ;be a total loss, is valued at £IO,OOO, and is insured for £4OOO. The stocks are covered by a policy for £6OOO, but this is not thought to nearly cover the loss. ( One corner of the ground floor was occupied by Sanford, Ltd., and used as an open fish mar-ket, but the loss there is not likely to be heavy. 1 Another portion of the ground floor was occupied by a number of carrying firms and used as a receiving depot. These firms were: Messrs G. A. Newton and Go., of Howick, and .the following North Shore carriers: Messrs Jordan Bros., C. B. Roper, A. Holden; W. ; Edmonds, Verran and Sons, and A. Christie. Only ono of these firms, so far as is known, had goods stored in the building, and this comprised a quantity of .personal Jjiggage. A smJ®lean-to building adjoining itii'gi'main store, used as a pie, stall, was also' badly damaged. Two trading vessels owned by Messrs Winstone, Ltd., lvad a narrow escape from destruction. . They were lying at a privato wharf at the rear of the building. Ono of them, the auxiliary scow Haere, had delivered a cargo of 150 tons of Portland cement into the store on Saturday and was tied up alongside, and the scow Hero was also moored nearby. These vessels were in a dangerous position from the commencement of the fire. The master of the firm’s towing launch Muriwai returned .from a job after the fire had started, and seoing the danger, quickly cast the mooring lines off and towed both vessels to a place of safety. • . '. The building was erected in 1915, and ; was constructed specially to carry (heavy loads on the Various floors. :(P.A.) ' ' '