NO EVACUATION ORDER GIVEN

Chronicle (Levin), 7 February 1948, Page 7

NO EVACUATION ORDER GIVEN

Press Assotfatiozij

FURTHER EVIDENCE HEARD BY FIRE COMMISSION

(Per.

CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 3. The knowledge that tliere' were people in- the buiiding seemed to sweep through *the -speclators in a wave of horror,. stated Paul Loxton .Molineaux, law' clerk, when giving evidence at the inquiry into Ballantyne 's fire. At this tiine, flames were coming from several parts of the buiiding and. girls were se-en • at the windows in /Pratt 's Buiiding. They sat on the iedge but did not jump" when ealled t'o. Witness climbed up a ladder on to the verandah. He held out his arnis aud ealled to.the girls to jump. Oue "of tliem did ' so, . and fell heaviiy on the verandah. She was lowerod by witness' and another inan into the net held by people on the ground.

Almost immediately another girl jumped and ianded oil the verandah, lie said. She sereanied but appeared to be all right. She also was lowered into the net. Molineaux then deseended the ladder and shortiy aft'erwards saw another iigure at the .window wliere the other girls had been seen. It was K. Ballantyne and he sat on the parapet taking no notice of the ealls to jump. Firemen began manoeuvring ladders until oue reaclied liim. At this time hoses were being played about Ballantyne aiul the 'firemen. Ballantyne was brought down the laddei and dropped into the net. Witness i'ollowed a liose up the stairway to the tearooms wliere there were several people. The hose was still being coupled up and no water was coming from it, Molineaux continued. Some of the people present broke the tearoom windows with chairs and Witness leaned out of the window -and signalled to the- firemen on the ground to plav the water through the windows into the tearooms. The firemen appar entJy m'isunderstood him and waved liim awav. Molineaux said .lie then returned to the liose, but there was still no water coming from it. The firemen and civilians left, but one fireman came baek. , A small lead belonging to the firni was then in use. It was about 4.30 p.m. when the water came through the brigade liose which was then directed into the tearooms. Witness and a fire man 'worked across the tearoom with the hose towards the lounge when the roof of the floor above fell into the i lounge. Then there was another erash bcliind and another part of the roof ! fell in. When this happened witness ! thought he, and the firemen were done for. Howeyer, the water continued to ■ come through the hose and shortiy | after the fire in the immediate neigh- , bourhood appeardH to be under control. | Molineaux told Mr. C. S. Thonias (for i the underwriters) that he did hear | somebody call out, "Never mind the j fire. Get the girls." The girls were 12 fieet above him when he was on- Aho ! verandah, liut he was not provided with j anv ladder to bridge that gap. | "Did you get the impressiou that the firemen were slow to act, and that tliere appeared to "be a great deal of confusion?" Mr. Thomas asked. . „ ■ • : "Yes," Molineaux replied. "Indivi-

i dually the firemen were doing a good [ job, but there* appeared to be a lack of directive control." His oinee was on 'the first fioor, slightly west of the tailoring department, said Kenneth Ballantyne, joinf. managing-direetor of the iirm, led by Mr. G. G. Watson (chief counsel for the Crown). He said that when he wcnt downstairs he saw a- small group of people near the soft furnishing department, aud noticed'some smoke. As. he went forward to investigate he was told'by Stringer that there was a small fire in Congreve's cellar, and that he (Stringer) had practically located it. Witness said Stringer told him \ that the Fire Brigade had been ealled, and shortiy after, when he thought the brigade was a long time coming, he found that Boon had put a call through. Witness attempted to get a direet line out himself, but was uh'able to do so. He wfis unable to get the firm's operator on the telephone and went up the main stairs to see where she was.

At this stage it had no't occurred to him that anything serious was wrong. As he was going upstairs, he met Mrs. Crew who told him she did not think all her' girls were down yet. She appeared perturbed, but it still did not suggest itself to him that it might' he necessary to evacuate the staff. " Witness said that when he xeached the credit office there was no smoke or indieation of fire. He passed through the credit. office and opened the sliding door which led to the fire escape on the way to the millinery room and telephone exchange. Outside the door there was, "tremendous smoke and great heat ' ' which he could not penetrate. in reply to Mr. Watson, Ballantyne said it was incorrect that, as Miss Kennedy and Mrs. Nash had said yesterday, he aud the assistant secretary (Hudson) were in the credit room five or seven minutes before telling the staff to get ont. Perhaps Miss liennedy and Mrs. JSTash had not heard him when he instructed the girls to lea-ve by the tailoring staircase. The girls came baek and said they could uot get down the staircase because of the smoke. This would be not more than two to two and a-half minutes after he had come up the same stairease without seeing any smoke. Witness could not bclieve that the smoke was too had and had reaehed the swing door in the passage on his way to the staircase when he found the smoke so thick ' that he was not prepared to tackle it. He thouglit it to be impenetrable. There was also considerable heat, but it would kave been bearable, even at this stage. Ballantyne said he thought the only way of escape would be through the npndjpws.,, -_. . , Continuing his evidence, Ballantyne said he went to the!Cashel Street windows -and ealled for help, which, as he knew' the hnga'de had been ealled, he thought would he available at tlii's time. The agitation of the girls was increasing rpnsider^bly. ..He -was: mafcing;his way to the C6loni"bo Street wi'nidowS' whPn a girl spoke to liim and coilapsed. He attempted to pull her to the Colombo Street window, hut she slipped from his grasp hefore he reaehed there. Visibility at this stage was almost nil, hut so far he had seen no flames.

Replying to l\Ir. Watson, Ballantyne said his recollections after that were' fairly clear, but slightly out of order. After reaciiing the window in Coloinbo Street,, he broke the glass and got out on the parapet from which he was rescued. Mr. Lascellesl (for City Council): You gave. no general instruction to go round the buiiding and put the people in a state of readiness to quit? Witness: Correct. Mr. Laseelles: Nor did you at any time order the eyacuation of tlie premises? — No. How long did the periojl of inaction awaiting the arrival of the brigade, last? Mr. Ballantyne: Tt can only .be an estimate. Tt i-s an anxious moment. The brigade has !)een ealled and does not arrive. Wliat seems like ten minutes m ay have been only two or three. Afr. Ballantyne said that the attitude of the girls in the credit office was such that they would have immediately obeyed an order to quit if they had seen wliat he had seen when he opened the fire escape door. Mr. Laseelles: Is it not a fact that no general " attempt "to evacuate the credit office was made until hope was nearly gone? Mr. Ballantyne: I don't agree with that • statement. Mr. Laseelles: When that order was given, what "^ay of escape remained? Witness: The way I had come. "I met a fireman standing at the baek of the engine and I told him that girls were trapped upstairs," said Ngaire Phvllis Biggart, a member of the ai't departmertt staff, who was instructed by the heacl of he£ departmeht to te)U the Fire Brigade that' girls were trapped in the millinery depar'tment. "I could see tlie girls on the third floor and I pointed them out to him. I could hear them calling for help. I can't remember what the fireman said or did." The inquiry is adjourned till February 17.