$1M warehouse damage and kiosk gutted in night of fires

Press, 26 April 1979, Page 1

$1M warehouse damage and kiosk gutted in night of fires

Vk hole households of uninsured possessions were destroyed as fire roared through a Sydenham warehouse on Tuesday night, causing damage estimated at SIM.

Six firemen were injured in the fight to control the blaze, which left the Kirby Carriers building in Gasson Street a gutted, roofless ruin.

The one-storey brick building had housed an estimated $500,000 worth of new and used household furniture, goods, and appliances, either in storage or in transit.

It was the first of two big fires in Christchurch during the night. At 2.50 a.ra. fire raged through the interior of the Botanic Gardens tea kiosk, a landmark in the gardens since the last century. Neither fire had been confirmed as arson last evening.

At the height of the warehouse blaze, which had broken out about 10.40 p.m. flames shot more than 30m into the air.

The glow from the flames and a towering pall of smoke could be seen over most of the city, and emergency services swtichboards were flooded with alarm calls. Heat from the fire was so intense that paint blistered from the walls of buildings across the street. At one stage the police had to force a crowd of sight-seers back as muffled explosions from inside the burning building sent burning debris high into the air. The flames also engulfed two heavy trucks and gutted a workshop in one corner of the building. The shop, which housed a big amount of welding and engineering equipment, was run by Williams Gwatkin, Ltd, a sister company of Kirby’s. Both companies are subsidiaries of Transport Nelson Holdings, Ltd.

A man who lost $17,500 worth of household goods in the blaze said he was unaware that his property was not insured.

The man, a public servant who declined to be named, said he had been transferred front Nelson to Christchurch. Most of his possessions were stored in the warehouse. “I was under the impression that, the stuff was insured while it was

in transit, but a representative of Kirby’s told me today that there was no insurance once the truck was unloaded at the warehouse,” he said. “No mention was made of this when I hired the removal van.” He said he was now “stranded in a motel with a wife, a young child, and two suitcases.”

One of the first to see the fire was Mr O. Graham, of Sydenham. “I saw a wee bit of smoke coming from the roof while I was walking over the railway tracks,” said Mr Graham. “I took off to find a phone box, but when I looked back the whole place was going like a bomb. They didn’t have a show of stopping it,” he said.

Seven engines and more than 30 officers and firemen were involved in the two-hour battle to control the fire. The six firemen who suffered minor burns and lacerations were treated at the Christchurch Hospital, and later discharged. Fir e-safety officers spent yesterday sifting through the debris trying to establish the cause of the blaze. They had found no evidence of arson by last evening.

About 40 persons had possessions stored in the building, and many of these were not insured, according to the regional manager of Kirby’s Carriers, Ltd (Mr A. Sutherland).

“We tell people quite strongly that it is their responsibility to insure property under storage contracts,” said Mr Sutherland. “A lot of this was not insured, but we are just starting to try to assess what is what,” he said.

Mr Sutherland said the company had no reason to suspect arson. The fire destroyed 250 o f Kirby’s storage containers, worth $46,000; a van; and about $lOO,OOO worth of plant and equipment.

“That means we have lost $150,000 before we even start thinking about the building or anything,” said Mr Sutherland. The

building is believed to be worth between $200,000 and $300,000. “We had only about half as much stuff in the building as we normally have. Luckily we had had a big clearance in the three days before the fire,” he said.

The company has found temporary storage space in the Williams Gwatkin building in Carlyle Street, Sydenham, and it will open a temporary office today at 500 Colombo Street.

A c a r t a ge firm neighbouring Kirby’s in Sydenham, W. A. Brown, Ltd, was the victim of a sustained attack by an arsonist earlier this month. Three fires were

started in the company’s yard in one week, but none caused serious damage. Fire-safety officers were still trying yesterday to determine the cause of the fire which wrecked the interior of the Botanic Gardens tea kiosk. The kiosk was well ablaze by the time two fire engines from the Central Fire Station arrived just before 3 a.m. Part of the roof had collapsed, and the interior of the kiosk had been gutted before the fire was brought under control. The picturesque circular building had been a landmark in the gardens since the latter part of the last century.