FIRE ON A TUG

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 225, 17 June 1920, Page 5

FIRE ON A TUG

KARAKA SEVERELY DAMAGED. At about 1 o'clock yesterday morning an outbreak of fire ocourred on the tug Karaka, : while that vessel was lying alongside the tug wharf in front of the Customs Buildings, and a good deal of damage was done to the deck and deckhouse before the flames were suppressed by the brigade. : Constable O'Connor, of the wharf police, discovered the fire while en patrol duty, and immediately summoned the brigade, which arrived in a, very few minutes. The flamca by that time had a fairly strong Iwld, but the firemen, with three leads of hose, were able to suppress them in a very short while. Had it not been for the prompt action of the brigade the little vessel must have been totally destroyed. : The outbreak appears to,have started in the alleyway on the starboard side of the ship, near the boiler room, and owing to the absence of wind the brigade were able to confine* tho'flames to this part and the .decking around and albove it and the funnel. It is believed that the fire was probably caused by some'one sleeping, aboard the ship. The Karaka, which is a wooden vessel of 43 tons gross, is owned by Mr. E. G. P. Zohrab, and is engaged for the most part in towing hulks in the harbour. She had recently undergone her annual overhaul, and was almost ready to take up her duties again. Mr. Zohrab esti' mates that by'tho time the vessel is hgain ready for use the cost of repairs will'be nearly ilOOfl. She will have to lay up for about one month to have these, carried out. Fortunately the: boiler and engines appear to have escaped injury, The wheel has been completely destroyed, arid' a lifeboat was slightly charred.

The vessel was insured with the New Zealand Insurance Company for ,£2500.