Fire In Gasometer Presents Problem For Brigade

Chronicle (Levin), 12 April 1949, Page 7

Fire In Gasometer Presents Problem For Brigade

Press Association )

(Per

NAPIER, April 11. After a nerve-wracking two and aquarter hour effort — during which it faced the prospects of a serious explosion — the Napier' Fire Brigade. this afternoon extinguished an outbreak of fire which occurred at- 11 a.m. today following a spark ignitipg a leak yn the Napier Gas Company's main gasometer. Although the fire'was fiot spectaqular, the risk of an' explosion was great. Indicative of the prospect facing the firemen, was the statement made this j afternoon by the superintendent of the Napier Brigade, Mr. G. Drummond. "No one knows how close it was to an explosion. Had the affected plates buckled and let air in, an- explosion might have occurred whi'ch wunld have , damaged an area over . half a mile irt ' radius, " SuperintencLent •• Drummond said.

rrospects of an explosion had depended on whether the force of the ga* pressure was sufficient to keep air from gaining access to the gasometer. Artempts were made to "pinch out" the flame with chemical foanx, the superintendent pointing out that the escapmg gas would not then be so dangeruus, but the force of' the gas through the leak caused the foam to be blown away. Three jets of water were coneentrated on the danger point for over two hours to keep the plates cool and prevent buckling from heat, firemen vvorlcing on a narrow runway 15 feet below the danger point. Meanwhile gas was being rele^sed to the subsiliary plant at l'ort Ahuriri and through the > escape valve at the rear of the company's premiges. Not until the gasometer had subsided to the j "water seal" level, was the. escaping j gas shut off. Emplovees of the com- . pauv are working all night to replace the three damaged plates. The roar of the flames as-they shot from the small hole in the gasometer was audible above the eombined noise of the trafiic, the lioses and the shouts of the firemen. The police had cleared the- surounding' area of onlookers as a safety measure and a radio appeal had been made to householders to use as inuch gas as possible to aid in reducing the pressure in the retort. Mr. C. E. Fountain, manager of the : company, stated that the gasometer held 150,000 cubic feet of gas. He adde-l that the leak had occurred six plate3 from the top of the gasometer which had to be sujbsided to the water level to shut off the escaping. £as. - • f; I