BIG CITY BLAZE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19139, 24 October 1927, Page 8

BIG CITY BLAZE.

HEAVY DAMAGE. AULSEBROOK'S BISCUIT FACTORY. MANY HANDS OUT OF WORK. The greater part of the top floor and portion of the lower floor of .\ulsebrook's biscuit and confectionery factory, at the corner of St. Asaph and Montreal streets, were burnt out in a spectacular and destructive blaze last night. The factory, which is a huge concern, employing a great number of hands, has been added %o from time to time, and the burnt portion was that most recently built. No estimate of the damage was available last night, but the manager, Mr T. B. Crawshaw, stated that it would be very heavy. The building affected by the fire, known as the No. 1 building, is insured with the Northern Assurance office for £56,400, and the total insurance on the whole factory is £160,000.

At 8.45 p.m., passers-by in St. Asaph j street saw no signs of fire, yet by nine I o'clock the western end of the top floor was ablaze. The fire started in the ladies' dining-room, and swept, with great" rapidity, through the biscuitpacking, biscuit-storing, and bakehouse departments. It was confined to those departments by a concrete floor, which separates them from the rest of the building. Had it not been for the concrete floor, and the brick walls, the whole of the buiiding must have been destroyed. Clouds of Sparks. A fairly high south-west wind fanned the flames until they were sweeping along the top floor towards the department which is above the general office. Within an hour of the start of the fire flames were leaping along the St. Asaph street frontage arid round the corner into Montreal street. As the roofs fell, huge showers of sparks were sent high into the sky, to fall over i large area of surrounding buildings'. Blazing papers added to the glare that shone in the rain, making the fire visible all over the City. Substantial pieces of burning debris were hurled into the air, and, had it not been for the fact that the roofs of the surrounding busi-. ness premises and timber yards were thoroughly soaked by the heavy rain and hail which fell in showers throughout the night, the/ conflagration would have been one of much wider extent. Very soon a pall of choking smoka hung over the City and drew thousands to the _scene. The fire gained a strong hold with remarkable rapidity, and by the time the first engine arrived fully 600 people were gathered at the scene. Starting at the west end of the building, the flames devoured the roofs, and within an hour the whole of the top storey on the St. Asaph street irontage was destroyed. From then onwards the fire gradually worked its way round to the other topmost departments. The concrete floor separating the top storoy from the others saved the whole building from total destruction.

Mysterious Origin. When it is remembered that the building was closed from noon on Saturday, the origin of the outbreak assumes complete mystery. At 10 p.m. a large portion of the roof fell in, and the crowd gasped as ,a massive tongue of flame surged round a fireman who was at the top of an extension ladder. H 6 remained in his dangerous position for half an hour, the top of the ladder overlooking the blazing mass, while he directed a powerful stream of water into the interior of the building. At times he was obscured from view by the smoke and sparks. Finding a pr'olonged stay in-.this position useless, as the fire was uncontrollable as far as the upper portions were concerned, he returned to earth, and later took up another position at a top window, sending a jet of water into the fiercest part of the blaze. Five Engines Operating. Three engines and 26 firemen, including Superintendent C. C. Warner and Deputy Blake, from the Central Station; six men and one engine from the Sydenham Station, under Station-Officer Hughes; and an ongine and reinforcements of men from the Railway Fire Station, worked strenuously to subdue the conflagration, and it was well on towards 10.30 p.m. before there were signs that the fire was under control.

Considerable difficulty was experienced by the firemen in getting at the flames. The large windows of the factory are glass with a mesh of wire or wire gauze, and they were hard to break. Tho pressure of water failed to make any impression on them, and firemen were compelled to mount ladders and break open the windows panes with axes. Battering rams were used to break open the big gates, and leads of hose were taken into the rear of the building and worked from a height. As each separate room was swept by the fire, huge hursts of flame went ap from the inflammable material and tho firemen were faced with dangerous work.

Plenty of Water. •' •Over twelve loads of hose were used in subduing the outbreak, operating from four hydrants and one sump, the capacity of each being 450 to 500 gallons per minnte. From time to time, as the flames sank, blinding volumes of acrid smoke descended into the street and obscured the firemen's view of their work entirely. The searchlights on the engines were then used, as well as a battery of electric torches. Very soon the pavements in the locality were an inch deep in water, partly from the heavy rain, but mostly from the hoses and the huge quantities of water streaming from the building. Although a very little of the actual fire reached down to the lower floors, the stock and machinery will be very extensively damaged by water. The proprietor of the factory, Mr E. E. McDougall, was in Parnassus yesterday, and last night there were no means of communicating with him by telephone. The authorities who were present were unable to give an actual estimate of the damage or the number of employees that will, for tho time being, be thrown out of work, but it is stated that the work-people to suffer will total about 400.

From 25 to 30 police were on the scene, under Sergeants Kelly, Macgregor, and Hodgins, and the crowd which grew to about 5000, behaved well. Towards midnight the factory resembled, in the darkness, a steaming mass, pouring out volumes of pale smoke and a pungent odour which drifted across the City from south-west to north-east. A large number of firemen

and some police remained on duty all night at the scene. "Well on towards 1 a.m., bursts of flame recurred from time to time as smouldering sugar blazed up, and the work of extinguishing the fire continued into the early hours of the morning, when minor conflagrations were still taking place in various parts of the building. \ A serious difficulty which faced <hose firemen working in Montreal street was caused by the road excavations for drainage or other purposes. These made the ladder footholds far from safe. The need for protection against fire loss is obvious. Consult the sfe: nntile and General Insurance Co., Ltd., Hereford street. _6