THE OTAKI FIRE

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 878, 26 July 1910, Page 7

THE OTAKI FIRE

RAILWAY STATION DEMOLISHED, OLD WOOD AND NO HYDRANT. (From Our Special Correspondent/) One of the largest fires that has occurred in Otaki for some time broke out on Sunday morning; and completely demolished the railway station, railway post office, and refreshment rooms. It appears that Mrs. Hall, wife of the licensee of the Railway Hotel, saw smoke issuing from the post-office chimney at about 7.40 a.m., but naturally attached no importance to the fact; imagining that somo member of the railway staff was probably on the premises. Subsequently, on going outside, she noticed that tho volume of smoke had increased a good deal, sufficient, in fact, to warrant giving an alarm. In this way Mr. -Larkiu, statiomnasfcer, was acquainted of the position. At thesamo time Mr. M'Hardie, lessee of the refreshment rooms at the station, noticed the smoke, and also gave,the alarm. First on tho Sccna. Both lie and Mr. Larkin then made for the station, but found that the hre had too great a hold to allow them to break into the post office and save anything. Mr. M'Hardie turned his. attention to the. refreshment rooms, but bad scarcely entered when the flames broke through, and he was only enabled to save about a dozen packets of cigarettes, -and somo crockeryware. Mr. M'Hardie values ■ his stock at £200, and holds only £75 insurance in the United Insurance Company. Mr. Larkin lost no time in securing ingress to the railway offices, and, with a willing band of helpers, removed practically everything, eVen to doors, window sashes, and the advertisement placards. They were removed to a place of safety and afterwards transferred to the goods shed.

Meantime the fire horned, merrily, and sufficient water not being available, the building was abandoned to tho mercy of tbe flames. Being:built of old wood, the building fired rapidly, and, shortly after nine o'clock, the end of the railway offices collapsed, leaving only the iron work of i the verandah, which only had been recently erected. By the united efforts of a bucket brigade, the engine-room at the rear was saved. Tho telephone' and telegraph wires were all injured, but Mr. Poynter, with a staff of men, did his utmost to restore communication. Assistance from Wellington. In tho meantime word was sent to Wellington, and early in the afternoon, a special train containing Mr. Fahey, electrician, Mr. Dawson, traffic ■ manager, and a staff of workmen arrived with necessary equipment, and in very quick time had everything in working order, temporary offices being at once, provided ■ for the issuing .of. tickets, postal service, etc. • It is considered by many that the fire broke ont in the far corner from the fireplace, but this theory is exploded by the statements of Messrs. Larkin • and M'Hardie, -who -are-certain- that- -the firo broke out. near .the fireplace: Both also stated that tbe flames almost immediately broke into the refreshment rooms. No Fire Appliances. Had the-'Railway Department- provided the station with a hydrant there is but little doubt that the whole building would have been saved. The only water' within easy reach was from tanks with half-inch .'pipes, and this was' quite insufficient to cope. with the. fire. The blaze had such a substantial hold by tho time the crowd' arrived .' that to convey water from the largo tank per truck* would nave been superfluous. V/ithin an hour and a half of the alarm being given tho huilding was reduced to ruin. Staiionmaster's Statement.

Mr. Larkin states that it is"his usual custom to ' have a look round ■ every night to see that all is safe, and on Saturday night, when leaving at about 8.45, he mado his customary inspection and found everything as it should be. Only recently much improvement had been' carried out at the station, the erection of a substantial verandah, an additional luggage room, and improvements to the railway offices and post office all helping to make tho structure convenient and more up to' date.

Searching the Debris. The debris at 'the sceno of the firo has been partially removed, and workmen are still busy searching for various odds and ends. f This morning they unearthed a cash-box belonging to the post-office, which contained about two pounds or so of silver. Miss Johnston (postmistress) had the misfortune to lose a gold watch. She- states that when she left the office at 5 p.m. on Saturday tho firo was partially, out, and there was not tho slightest danger of it causing a blaze. She also remembered turning out the gas, and leaving the office as usual. Luckily there were not many letters in tho old office at the time of tho fire. Work in connection with the railway traffic is going on very satisfactorily. Osving, to rough and ready handling, however, the ticket rack was carried out of the burning building upside down with the result that 15,0(10 tickets were badly mixed, and this gavo Mr. Larkin, Mr. Olds, and others five .hours' work in re-sorting them. Mr. Larkin, by his thoughtfulucss, saved some £200 worth of instruments without any damage being done to .thorn. They are now working .as smoothly as, ever. ; . Detective Arrives. Detective Lewis arrived at Otaki this morning, and is endeavouring to discover, the cause of the outbreak. Some residents consider that the fire has been, caused by a burglar, but that supposition is 'demolished, as everything was intact when residents first arrived. Mr. M'Hardie has been unfortunate, this being liis second frre of recent date. At Marion he had property destroyed running- into several hundreds of pounds. Mrs. M'Hardie was at Marton at the timo of the' present outbreak, but a telegram'apprised her of the. fact, and sho motored to Palmerston .yesterday, and, caught tho early train this morning. DWELLING DESTROYED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.l • Carterton, July 25.' Fire early this morning destroyed a house owned by W. Hart, and occupied by W. Hart,' sen., Dalofield. Practically nothing was saved. Tho houso was insured in- the Northern for £100 and the furniture for £100 in tho. National.