CITY FIRES

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21034, 9 February 1940, Page 6

CITY FIRES

FOUR IN ONE NIGHT JOINERY WORKS DESTROYED TWO RESCUED FROM CAFE POLICE ON THE ALERT CHRISTCHURCH, Friday The joinery works of Messrs D. Scott and Sons, Montreal Street, were completely destroyed by a fire which broke out early this morning. The alarm was given at 1.45 a.m., when the fire had a good hold. There appeared no prospect of saving the building, and the efforts of the brigade were directed to getting the fire under control as quickly as possible and preventing it spreading to a large quantity of timber close by. The hoses were concentrated from three separate directions, and the brigadesmen lost little time in subduing the fire. Although it was impossible at that stage to save any portion of the joinery works, within half an hour of the alarm being given the fire had been reduced to a steaming sodden mass of corrugated iron and charred beams. Tfre loss runs into several thousands of pounds. Mother And Son Rescued A mother and her crippled 18-year-old son, overcome by smoke, were rescued from a burning building in Lower High Street at four o’clock this morning. They were Mrs H. Dick and James Dick, who are among the occupants of living quarters attached to the Cafe Cecil. Fire broke out in a storeroom at the back of the premises at 3.50 a.m. and quickly spread to the rooms occupied by two members of the cafe staff. Mr George Gibbons, who also sleeps at the rear of the building, gave the alarm and aroused six other occupants. Firemen who were returning from Scott’s fire in Montreal Street saw the blaze, made a detour, and carried on with their second fire of the night. They made a quick save and confined the blaze to three rooms at the rear. James Dick, whose room was in the front portion of the building, was carried out by firemen. His mother, who had returned to her room to get her money, also had to be assisted out of the building. Both were suffering badly from the thick smoke. Attitude of Police Four outbreaks of fire in the city last night and a number of other large fires recently did not in themselves give any cause to believe that incendiarists were active in the city, said Chief Detective Dunlop this morning. Fires had occurred in cycles before, and this might be just an unfortunate succession of outbreaks.

“As yet the police have no reason to believe otherwise,” he said. Nevertheless in wartime especially the theory that some disgruntled people are making trouble in this way cannot be discounted, and we are mak ing thorough investigations. So far the buildings have all been so well alight when the alarm was raised that little could be saved, and any trace of petrol, combustibles or explosives, if any had been there, would have been destroyed. There has been nothing to cause suspicion yet, however.”