CITY FIRE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18898, 13 January 1927, Page 8

CITY FIRE.

BLAZE IN CASHEL STREET. LARGE BLOCK AFFECTED. INTENSIVE "DAMAGE. Ai 1.30 p.m. yesterday fire broke out iu the storeroom of Messrs Tutnbull and Jones, electricians, Cashel street, and spread rapidly fo adjoining buildings. By the time the Fire Brigade arrived, a few minutes after tho outbreak was discovered, the storeroom was a mass of raging flame, being rilled with very inflammable material. A large quantity of "packing cases tilled with straw provided material for the flames to spread fo the adjoining premises. There was blowing a strong easterly wind which helped the fire to advance fo the premises of .1. Trist, lentmaker, which suffered severely. Started in Storeroom. In the .storeroom, where the fire started, were quantities of electrical apparatus such as conduits, insulated wiring, cables, and boxes for the storing of ranges. A right-of-way led straight to the seat of the fire, but the work of the firemen was greatly hampered byrapid spreading of the fire, and by the dense smoke which poured from every outlet. The building contained two storeys, and Was built of iron. Smoke issuing from the roof was the first notice of the outbreak, and was seen by Mr D. Johnston, an employee of the Canterbury Jockey Club, who Tushed out" just in time to see one of Turnbull and Jones's workmen break the glass of the fire alarm at the street corner. The alarm was also given from the office. Gradually the fire reached the premises of J. Trist, Cashel street, which adjoins the workrooms of Turnbull and Jones. A brick wall stopped the fire from reaching the Jockey Club's rooms. Fire Spreads Rapidly. Under the command of Superintendent C. C. Warner, two engines turned out from the Central Station, with 11 firemen. Three leads of hose were run out, one through tho Jockey Club's buildings, one up Turnbull and Jones's right-of-way, and another through the Cashel street premises. Dense, acrid smoke, pungent with burning rubber, canto through tho right-ofrway, and from time to time great bursts of flame shot up through the roof, which was quickly demolished and revealed the blazing inferno within. By hair past two the occupants of all the adjoining premises were watching the firemen's progress anxiously, and it appeared that the fire would spread still further. The fire-fighters were faced with a difficult task, as the seat of the blaze was walled in, and it was diliicult to get above the flames. A considerable amount of piping was stored in a shed at the rear of Turnbull and Jones's, and this, together with a largo pile of packing parses, was quickly destroyed. The value was estimated at £SO. The marquee-dryiiig room of J. Trist was menacod, and two leads of hose were run in from the front where tho smoke was much less dense. The dry-ing-room was damaged by smoke and water. Many Premises Affected. The bloek iu which tho fire occurred is known as the Union Buildings, and includes the premises of: about a dozen different business people. ' The shops damaged by smoke and water were Y. C. Hunt and Co., Chinese fruiterers; Browno and Heaton, tea and coffee ■merchants; Eugene Spitz, tailor; Vigilant Automatic Fire Alarm Co.; Bennett Bros., cycle makers; H. Gudsell and Co., saddlej-s; White Bi-ob. and Bruere, estate agents; Ocean Accident and Guarantee Corporation, Ltd.; IT. JGamble, tailor; and the Anglo-New Zealand Cycle Co., owned by Mr P. AV. Sowden. Fire, smoke, and water greatly damaged offices occupied by Mrs W. Prestidge, costumier; tho K,Z. Timber Lands Co.; the N.2. Automatic Door Pad Co!; Moon and Williams, suppliers of engineers' requisites; J. Mitchell, lithographer; and the Presbyterian Bookroom.

It was soon iinpossiblo to gain access to these premises, but some of the occupiers managed to save the more important of their papers. The fire totally destroyed Henderson Bros.' ropo store, and the Chinese 1 fruiterers' banana-ripening shed also suffered destruction. The front room of the Union Buildings, overlooking Cashel street, did not suffer to any great extent but the rear rooms were gutted. Mr L. D. Budd is the proprietor of the business of J. Trist, owner of the Union Buildings. The fire was well in hand by 3 p.m., but the work of tho firemen was hampered somewhat by the sightseers who persisted in crowding into the doorways through which the Hoses were taken.

Stock Exchange Carries On. In spite of the fact that there was a blazing inferno within a few feet of thorn, and two windows of the room in which they were sitting were cracked bv the heat, the members of tho Christchurch Stock Exchange met as usual, and carried out their afternoon's work. Mr Gudsell, saddler, was another who believed in business as usual, and ho kept his machinery working until the power was cut off by linesmen. The plaster in his ceiling commenced to sag, and soon came down in large patches. The front shop and showroom of Messrs Turnbull and Jones, being of brick and stone, were not damaged, and had it not been for the fact that parts of the Union Buildings were stone, the fire would have spread even further. The Insurances. The whole premises occupied by Messrs Turnbull and Jones are insured with the Roval Exchange Insurance, the front s"OP a' nd building for , £6 °°°,' T' tents for £16,000, and the workshop fnr £650 The stock in Trist's shop is insured'for £3900 with the Standard poifv held by the British Traders' IncnraAee Co. This covers a block of Sings.from No. SO to No. 90, Cashel Bt The Presbyterian Bookroom was ingured for £BOO with the National InsuralM,ttel!, who estimates the dam+n his shop at £IOO, has a policy tie 8 loyal Exchange Insurance C Mr Gamble has his shop, fittings, and stock insured with the Yorkshire lusuruux Office for £350. H.s damage a estimated at £IOO. A f ir( . occurred in some packing cases fi ,£d with straw at the rear ot the - ;1 Buildings about sis months ago, bTntSe «e was done on that occasion.