Vandals Suspected In Coal Yard Fire

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31114, 18 July 1966, Page 1

Vandals Suspected In Coal Yard Fire

Vandals or trespassers may have started a fire which caused about £2OOO worth of damage at the Falsgrave street State Coal Depot yesterday afternoon, according to the manager of the depot, Mr W. Chapple.

The fire badly damaged a large shed and loading bay containing about 40 tons of bagged coal. Four tip trucks and a mechanical loader belonging to Mr J. W. Harris, a cartage contractor, of 50 Middlepark road, were also damaged.

The alarm was given at 5.18 p.m. and three units from the Central station answered the call. When the firemen arrived the shed was a mass of flames more than leaping 20ft above the roof.

About 20 firemen fought the blaze which was brought under control in a little more than half an hour. Thousands of gallons of water from two leads of hose were poured on the flames.

The trucks, which were parked nose in at the loading bay, were damaged by heat about the front.

The shed, which was used as a bagging depot and loading dock, was about 60ft by

80ft; The roof was burnt out. It was apparent that the fire had been smodldering for some time before it was discovered. The blaze was very deep seated in the bags of coal and beneath the wooden flooring. A front-end loader was used to shift piles of coal last evening so that firemen could get at the smouldering embers. Illumination was provided by spotlights supplied by the fire brigade and the headlights of a stationary tractor which had the motor running. The fire attracted a large crowd in the early stages when the flames could be seen for a long distance. The southern end of Falsgrave street at the Lismore street intersection was closed to traffic because of the hoses across the road. Mr Chapple said that there were men working in the shed on Saturday morning and when they left everything was in order. For some time boys and youths had been entering the depot at week-ends and damage had been done to vehicles and equipment.