SAFE BLOWN UP

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20786, 22 April 1939, Page 6

SAFE BLOWN UP

STORE DESTROYED FIRE FOLLOWS BURGLARY TE PUKE FIRM'S LOSS (Special to Times) TE PUKE, Saturday An outbreak of lire destroyed Messrs Patterson and Son's Oreat Bargain Stores at Te Puke at about 1.30 o'clock this morning. The building was an old wooden structure which had recently been renovated and added to. and as a result of prompt work by the Te Puke Fire Brigade the furniture department was saved. None of the adjoining shops was burntAfter the fire the safe was found to 'be blown open and £l5O in cash was missing. Firemen Slightly Injured The explosion when the safe was blown was heard over a wide area at about 1.30 a.m. to-day and the alarm of lire was given at 2.15 a.m. The flames had gained a firm hold on the building when the brigade arrived on the scene and the main portion of the store, a wooden structure, was gutted and the contents lost. Stock in the concrete wing in which is situated the furniture department, was also extensively damaged, though this wing better resisted the flames. Good work was done by the Te Puke Fire Brigade In preventing the spread of the flames to adjacent shops and several members of the brigade suffered minor injuries. One was struck by a falling beam 1 and suffered abrasions and another suffered a cut in the hand, necessitating four stitches. Others received minor bums. Details of insurance# Stock in the store and fittings were insured in the Guardian Assurance Company Ltd, Auckland, for £3OOO, but details of the cover on the building, which is owned by Mr John McLaren, of Devonport, are not known. The latest report this afternoon on the amount missing from the safe was that £2O in silver and £IOO in notes and cheques had disappeared. None of the books left in the safe was found. It is understood that there was also an attempt made on the safe in the store of the Farmers’ Trading Company Ltd, at Kati KaU last night, but the door of the safe jammed and nothing was taken.