VICTORIA STREET FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 619, 23 September 1909, Page 8

VICTORIA STREET FIRE.

A GOOD SAVE. ALL KINDS OF INTERESTS UNDER ONE ■• ROOF.The Wellington' Fire Brigade is to'fee congratulated .on its work in saving Mr. J. M. Richardson's four-story building in Victoria Street. from • being completely gutted. When such a.building bursts out in a blaze on the top floor, and, owing to,'being well shut in, the fire has obtained a goodhold before it isnbticed, the task of suppressing it is .far from being an;, easy one, yet Superintendent O'Brien and his hard-working brigade were able to confine the flames to the two top floors in one half of the building. This, of course, does not represent the loss, for water dripped through and over, everything throughout the whole of yesterday, making an awful mess of things. ■' ■:. • The cause of the firo is not accurately known, but a theory of fused electric wires lnconnection With the lift has been'put forward; with the usual- vagueness. An inspection of the premises' after the fire showed that the fire must' have started at the rear :of the second or top floor; then, as soon as: the heat had curled the corrugated iron off i he'stiffsoutherly'breeze would fan the flames; ■ight through to the front of the building. Chat.Mr. O'Brien saw his way clear from the mtset and acted- promptly on safety .lines nust be' conceded- after a glance through the lamaged building.-' .» '-.-'-, , " A fire broke ! out,on the top flat bf tm same suildinpr oh Sunday evening, March 18, 1905, ind did some little damage before it was suppressed.- ..■:;.,.,■,■ •, - ■-,■•.■,:■'■ ; •.. '. In yesterday's Dominion it was stated tnat the name of "the Excelsior Supply Company appeared on the building. So ft does, but the company removed to other. premises some .time ago. HOLDING THE FIRE. ■ INTERVIEW WITH SUPERINTENDENT .'-,.•'■ O'BRIEN.. , "We had a pretty.tough fight to confine the fire to the immediate vicinity of the outbreak," remarked Superintendent as he prepared to pilot a representative of Titf Dominion among the ruins of the devastated portion of the building. "The outbreak occurred on the second floor,' on the southern biqo of the building,, and in tho vicinity of the lift-woll. -Like far too many others in the, city, this lift-well was lined with wood, with glass windows at each 6tory, and once the fire got into this funnel, it would run up and down, setting each story alight, get to tho roof, and

quickly spread oveivthe whole building. To prevent the fire from getting a'hold' in' the well, wo. had to fight every inch' of the way. It is just another example of the danger which attaches to lift-wells of suoh flimsy construction. All lift-wells should'-bo fire-proof. The shafts should be .of brick. 1 and .fitted with fireproof doors." 'The,superintendent' then led tho way upstairs. On tho left-hand side of the Stairway tho 1 upper floors were blackened ruins, while on the : right • the .very .worst, that could be seen - were a few traces of smoke. 'Only, about .£lO worth of damage on this sido of the building," remarked the superintendent. Entering.the second floor, where tho fire originated, 4t wis plainly evident that the brigade had had, a. difficult task. "Wo attacked the fire from'the front—through, the' from the stairway, where we had a lead at each floor, arid from the.rear. There was a good pressure of . water,. as we were able to tap a 12-inch main just a few yards from the rear of the- building. Wo had to meet the advance of tho fire and drive it back. This waa the hardest part of'tho,.work, as' there was a gale'blowing, and the brigadesmen who were working from tbe_ front of the -building had tho greatest diffioulty in getting the -extension ladder in' ! position* on account of the mass of. telephone wires just : in-front-of-the building. The post office', people- are.:,very thankful. that" the metallio conductors' jwero saved; It would have been a costly business to fix, these up-again." ■■. - ; ."..':' INSURANCES. '• ' ' The insurances on the building are:— .Phoenix, Norwich-'Union, X2OOO. •'"'; ON .TENANTS' STOCKS. /;. v , ;'' -Van Staveren'Bros., fancy goods warehousemen.—J2ooo in--Yorkshire, XISOO in Royal Exchange,'.£lsoo in Atlas.- Total, JESOOO. ; Palmer Engineering. Company.—^4sol) 10l ■-. : Stock, held by". Mrs.--Mayer, shirt raid., piece manufacturer.—For. • Sargood, Son,'. and • Ewen ,£3OO, forßoss and Glehdining. .£2OO, for Union Clothing Company JC2s—all in National Office; for Roberts, Now Zealand, Ltd., J£3oo\in Commercial Union; for Wright, Dixon,;.and Witt, .£SO in. the Royal;-Mrs. Mayer.6,stock, machines, and fittings were insuredj for . .£4OO in the New Zealand Office. •' Though this business is still carried on under' the name of -Mrs. Mayer, it will be remembered -.that that lady died about six .months 'ago. . Since that time tho business has been supervised by her daughter, Mrs.^Harper.— ; ■•■•■ - ■ ■ ".' ■■ Messrs., 11. O. Anderson and C 0..: crockery and general merchants.—Stock,and' fittings insured for ,£1750 in'the:Soiith British Office. ~'' Messrs. Hooper .and .Harrison, soft-goods warehousemen.—Stock—J2sooo in United, .£2OOO in Norwich Union, and J!2500 in State. ■ This is a Sydney firm,- which holds large stooks in Wellington. ■ '■'. ; • ■; THE SUFFERERS. '. ' :'

The only entire loss is that sustained by Mrs. A. E. Mayer (firm), who occupied the eastern half of the .top floor, which; was swept-from end.to,end. ■ All that remains are the skeletons of a f few sewing-machines and a pile of scorched rolls of material waiting to be made up. The second floor on the same side was also seriously, invaded by the .flames, .and. a, yawning gap .'was burned in the floor about- the centre of .'the flat alongside tbo outer wall. This was ' occupied as a warehouse, or wholesale store'- by the' Palmer Engineering Company, which firm carried a very completo stock' of 'engineering. material of all kinds:- 'It is expected that a-good. deal of, this stuff, stored in packets on-shelves, will still be. in a goodj saleable "condition: The floor below was unoccupied, having'been, vacated . some time ago by Messrs. Fairbairn, Wright, and Co. The grounrtv referring to the i eastern section of the building—is, occupied py I the Palmer Engineering Company .as offices and a bulk store, where, the heavier machinery, motors, and working ' plant is ..kept. The machinery underwent a thorough Soaking, and, until it is all removed and cleaned up; it will be difficult to compute the damage. .The office paraphernalia,' and even'the books'and papers in the strong-room, suffered greatly from tho effects of water,'which was 6ti!l droppnu; down from the floors' abovo at midday yesterday., .Of the western half-, of the building, Messrs. Van 'St-averon -Brothers occupied the ground and top floors. Their loss should not be particularly heavy, though made substantial by the damaging effects of smoke and water. Tho first floor was occupied by Messrs. H. G. Anderson and Co:, crockery and general merchants. When they opened tho .doors yesterday, morning, the smoke', which had . been confined, burst oiit like a solid cloud, and it was some "time before the staff- could gofabout at all inside. '■', The smoke had lodged heavily on the gay : array'of choico china and; glassware, giving, everything, a murky film that refused to be removed by brushing. Tho 6mokc had been.so thick that it had tainted, the biscuits and confectionery stored away in tins on tbo shelves. Tho only visible signs of fire in this apartment were a few ashes, which had beenblown under the door, and a warped and smoke-stained ceiling ■ near tho door. The second floor was occupied by Messrs. Hooper and Harrison, whose stock is not very seriously affected.... Less than : .£2OO should cover their.loss, unless it is found ithat the Bmoke'has insidiously affected tho stock.