FIRE IN THE CITY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3082, 12 May 1917, Page 10

FIRE IN THE CITY

■ $ !■ MATTRESS FACTORY GUTTED A GOOD SAVE 1 'At about 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon a volume of thick -smoke was seen, to rise out of that dense block of Tnuldmgs that fills almost every inch Sir ,n f? ac 6 betwE °n Manners • mid Wakefield Streets. The smoke was shooting up from the roof of the mattress factory of David M'Crae, Ltd., in liaiisli Street, and the interior of that building (which is immediately at t the icar of the Clarendon Hotel) was a furnace of flame when the brigade i anitcd In ten minutes' timo billows of naked flame were roaring up into tho clear air from tho centre of the i Mock, whilst inside was an inforno of flamo caused by tho ignition of a largo stock of kapoc, flax, and flock. Th'e i brigade tackled tho fire in a masterlv fashion, working with two strong leads from tho front in Parish Street and one from tho roof at the back. Gradually the fir© centres wore, sought out and drenched, tho flaring lining was torn down with the force of water and hatchets, with tho result that by 4.25 p.m. tho fire was completely "under i control. ■ It it as ■•& great savo. The'building r— an old two-story wooden structure— was well filled with tho inflammable materials necessary to mattress and pillow making, and' everything was well alight beforo the brigade got to work, owing to tho lightning rapidity with which tho flames spread throughout iho factory. It is extremely fortunate that tho staff (whioh included two girls) '■was enabled to get clear of the burnin-r miilding without mishap. Had there ;been a strong wind -blowing, tho chances were that the hotel would havo ' ,gone, and probably Radford's warefhouse, which extends from' Manners Street across the rear of M'Crao's factory As a fact some slight damago iwas done to Radford's place hy firo fend smoke, and tho plate-glnss skylight (of Guniey's baskctwaro factory (which Jadjomed il'Crao's on tho north side) ■Swas broken by the force of tho water ttrom ono of the roof leads. The factory hvas practically gutted. What damage {the machinery has sustained- will'not Ae ascertainable until the debris is reouoved , Tho cause of fire was a spark ignite r Sng the dust in a flock-teasing machine Jon tho ground floor of tho factory. Tho lyouth (P. Fisher) who \ was in,charge fof tho machine could not say exactly; ?what caused the spark. All'lio knew i f ttas that suddenly- thoro was a burst l*j V)f flame, so fierce that, it licked the foiling above his head and spread: out ! , jJiko a fan. The alarm was at onco j (given, and all in the building got clear Svithout mishap. J