FIRE IN TARANAKI STREET

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 181, 26 April 1919, Page 8

FIRE IN TARANAKI STREET

' PAINT STORE DESTROYED

DAMAGE ABOUT £12,000

NEARLY A BIG BURN

A serious fire occurred in Lower Tara--uati Street last night, in tho.paint store occupied by Mr. T. A. Wells. Tho building, a two-storied brick shell, was packed from flooi to' rafters with oils, varnishes, mixed paints, whito lead, turpentine, bnishware, and wall papers—next t>> petroleum probably the most inllani.inabl^''.commodities: iii commerce. Tho - .whole of this valuable stock was . defar as can yet bo found. There is just a possibility that a considerable quantity of white lead may not havo been destroyed, becauso the tins containing it wero' stacked so closely together in a mass that it may bo that tho fire has not destroyed all of it. The liuildiiisr is completely gutted, and even the wall on one side broken a little. Until daylight it will not be possible to sav whether' tho damage hasbeon more serious The- walls have perhaps stood tile fire. ■ But only the skeleton of the 'building remains. r ■'. The fire broke ojit shortly before eight o'clock.'and burned fiercely for more than two hours. After that time it was pretty clear that tho "brigade would bo ablo to confine it to tho store. There had been periods earlier in tho, battle when the issue was. very much in doubt, and if , the flames had got over the brick walls V into the row"of-wooden'.shops' in Courtiuiny Place,, there .might havo been a ■ big burn out. , ' Tho 6tore is a brick building on the western side of Tiiranaki Street, about ■"fifty yards or less from Courtenav l'lace. It is "L" shaped, tho tail- of the "L" ioining up with premises occupied Iby Mr. Wells as a shop' and showroom fronting Coiirtenay Place. The' brick wall of the store, kept the firo from the shop, othorwiso the wholo front would :havo been in gravo danger.' On tho northern side _of the storo there was a wide right-of-way, separating _ the build-, ing. on fire from a two-storied wooden building now used as a restaurant. The wind was . from the north, otherwise this building must have gone, also the right-of-way allowed the firemen a better attack. On the other side of Mi'. Wells's Btoro was a big ferro-coucrete structure*, absolutely fireproof, being ; built for tho motor trade, and now almost completed. This structure safely confined the lire on one side, and it happened to be the dangerous side. Tho risk was behind this high concrete building, for this protector was not so deep from the street

line as the paint store. ■ The fire had a strong Hold of. the oils, -in the building before the brigade camo along, and from the beginning tho 'fire--men had no hopo of quenching.' the , flames, "with the three .or four leads of hose they had available. Probably , they '■■pould scarcely havo succeeded with a Rcoro of jets, because it was never possible to reach from the. outside -windows the places within where the fire raged. The burning nil and paint ran from its . containers and spTead the fire over the •whole store, ' and the contents burned from then onwards, not explosively, but, very tenaciously. About nine o'clock the flames seemed to have definitely mastered the 'brigade, and it did appear that they .would jump all barriers and attack the wooden buildings on the ConTtena.v Place front, but the brick walls held the fire until.',presently the firomen reached the neat of the burning with one jet of water. This kept down the fierceness of the fire-in: that part, but by no.means : tack. No army, in history had been set , quenched it. The flames still continued to show, but they did not leap so wildly, and the fire was kopt controlled. ' -All the'.available pressure of water, from the mains was concentrated on the fire, and rivers of water were spilled on tlie Hsnies. 'ft wns an almost ■windless night, otherwise tho brigado might not ■ ' have been so fortunate. Mr, Wells is a heavy loser by the loss ' of his valuable stock. It is common knowledge that in those times paint and oils and wall-papers aro almost worth their weight in gold, and it happened that Mr. wells carried a big stock.. He estimates tho valiie of the stock in the building at. of which all, with the possible exception of some of the white lead, has been totally destroyed. This loss is covered by -insurance in

some degree. A risk of .£3OOO is held by the Guardian Office, .E'2ooo by .tlie Phoei siix Office, and iEISfIO by the South British Office. Tim building is iiart of the estate of the late Sir William Pox, which is boiuct administered by the Pulj-•":!ic.-Trustee,: but the fiw loss in respect '•ofcthe bntldinfr.fills, on 3Fr. W«Hs. Fe :'.itoids"a.lease:of.'the building 'from tlio . Public. Trustee, wli'di lie lxmsrht abont -.a.year ago.- The Jense has some nine years still to-rim. ond lie is under covenant to return the building in good condition; at. .the expirv of the term. This mean a that the cost of rebuilding fnlls on him, and the fire policy on tho building is for ,£Bofl only. ' Tn addition, Mr. Wells must suffer "severely from complete 'interruption of bis business, because tbe goods in which he trades are almost unprocurable at present.

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