FIRE IN EXHIBITION BUILDINGS

Chronicle (Levin), 25 September 1946, Page 5

FIRE IN EXHIBITION BUILDINGS

-Press Assdciation 44.

VALBABLE WOOl ST0CKS AND AIR F0R€E STORES DESTROYi)

By. Telegraph-

WELLJNGXON, §e.pt, 2.5. up with dpamafcic swiftiiess .at . ajbput three o'clo.ck, fir.e ' s w-ept- through the big.g.est biock of the Gentepnial Exhihitiop Bui-ldings at Rongotai this mornhig.'- . iUMdersto.od to b.e valued at just- over £3,000,0.00 were m store • aaa,d .^ho.ut . £700,000 w.orth, tpg^tjkep witli" a consideruble • quantity of Air Force stor.es, were jdestrpye^d.. Sever|tl ajf ih'ep: sleepipg on the premises just managed (to esCjap.eX ■ ♦ The fire was the biggest in Wellington for jnany y.ears, exceeding even the outbreak which destroyed ihe Social] •Security building. "

Three alrcraftsmen, J. McGregor, N- S- D. ;Shuker and H. G. Lawso.n, -were asleep in tfye wool store about itliree o'clo'ck. McGregor was awak,ened by sharp reports nearby and saw (fi.arqes bursting through the ■stacked -.wool and beginning to run .along the rqof and down the walls. He roused his companions and ,by this time the flames were spreading so fast that they did not -wait to •run down the corridors, b.ut leapt out the window. By then the fire -was •invading .other parts of the the building, ahd when they raced round to the administration block to give the alarm the flames were leaping through the roof, and a col-umn of dense smoke was soaring -into the sky. •Two others sleeping in another part of the building escaped without injury, but with little time to spare. Fire brigade headquarters received the alarm at 3.15 andl

engines from several stations raced to the scene. The .firemen khew; ■long befor;e they -reached Rongotai that ther,e was a major fire to .b.e tackled, as the glow could :be se,en abo.ve the hjlls fr,om mfies away. The flames were leaping hundreds of feet into >the air, surrounded by a vas;t smoke column shqt with spayfc? And lit in flashes by'explodihg Very signal cartridges. - Thousands of people were awakened by tfie glare and explosions. •Faced with acres of burning building, the brigade, reinforced by police, fire police and Air Force fire-fighters, concentrated o.n nreventing its spread to the "nearby •buildings and houses, which -it accomplished successfully. ■•;• Despite heavy rain which started at 4.30 a.m., dlspersing the thoasands who watched the spectacle, the fire was still burning after 8 o'clock.