A BIG FIRE AT DUNEDIN.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1293, 10 December 1886, Page 3

A BIG FIRE AT DUNEDIN.

A second illustration was afforded on Sunday evening (says the Time* of the O’.h inst.) of the ►plendid economy shown iu building the new Dunedin railway goods sheds of wood. They are large she Is some SbOft in length by 40ft in width, and each holds at times a prodigious quantity of mercandiae of all degrees of combustibility. They bad scarcely been erected and brought into regular use than one caught fire—how, no one had much idea—aud- a glorious conflagration resulted, which provided an agreeable spectacle for thousands of onlookers. It touched the pooketa of a good many merchants and small traders, however, very disagreeably, for next to nothing was saved, and goods which are temporarily warehoused in this way in course of delivery are rarely covered by ordinary insurance policies. Meetings of the sufferers. were held, and there was much talking of' the testing the liability of the Government, but no test case was actually brought. After much negotiation the case of eich applicant for compensation was dealt with separately, and in those instances in which delivery notes had been sent in the Government recognised that the goods should no longer have been in their custody and ad-' milted liability ; still there was a good deal of loss to privattj individuals. ■ But the shed was rebuilt—of brick this time—and the matter was forgotten until last night, when the first act of the same drama was repeated in the presence of an even larger audience than before. It was, of course, one of the originally-built wooden sheds—known as the A shed—and was used for the storage of (goods in transit by railway for country places. A laige quantity of the merchandise it contained was sent away on Saturday oy various trains ; but a considerable quantity unluckily remained, as was quickly evidenced by the fierceness with which the firs raged. It must have been smould'-ring inside unnoticed probably for hours, for,' although it was only observed a few minutes before 9, and the clock had struck the hour before the alarm was given, by a quarter.past 9 the whole long shed from end to end was ablaze. By this time an enormous crowd bad collected, and never did a crowd enjoy better facilities for watching a big _ conflagration. There was no necessity to climb lamp posts or stand jambed at street corners. The sheds are situated in the midst of a wide space occupied by the line and the railway reserve, and there was therefore comfortable standing room and a good View fsr all who might be inclined for a little innocent excitement after evening service. The police had no difficulty in keeping order, because no one wanted to commit any breach of order. Everybody ;conld see all he or she wanted to see without cru-hing or jostling, and the heat was so intense to render a v»ry near approach unpleasant. It was a striking spectacle.' A red glare was reflected from the windows of the nearest buildings, and the wharf, the shipping, and the great concourse of spectators were brilliantly illuminated. A quarter of an hour after the outbreak, the abed itself was one mass of flame, and from that time forward sections of the roof fell in at intervals, leaving the uprights standing—a long row of burning sticks. ‘As these too gradually fell the doable row of trucks inside became visible. They also were burning fiercely, and it was plainly hopeless from the outset to save any of the contents. The brigade under Captain Robertson worked as usual heartily and with excellent organisation, pouring an immense quantity of water into the building. The supply at command, too, was everything that could be wished. At 8 o’clock, before the outbreak, there was a pressure of 1651b to the square inch, and when the brigade was fully at work with all the hoses, available, this pressure was only reduced to 1571b. ' However, no brigade could have mastered a fire that had such a hold unon such materials before it was discovered. There was a pleasant breezs blowing, just sufficient to assist matters, and the flames travelled from the southern to the northern end of the shed with wonderful rapidity. By 10 o’clock the worst of the mischief and the best of the spectacle was over, and in ano’.h.ir hour or so all tint remained of the shed—which, by the way, cost some L 3 100 to build—was an array of charred and smouldering uprights, long and short, looking not unlike the ribs and spars of some great ship. The fire was first seen simultaneously by two persons from different directions. One of these was a laborer named James Lough, who was passing near the shed, and the other Detective M ‘Coughlin, The latter states that he was in the vicinity of the U.B S. Company’s buildings at the corner of Crawford street, when he saw ablaze coming out of the centre of the roof, at the extreme southern end. He immediately proceeded to the scene of the fire, which he reached before anyone else had put in an appearance. By the time ha got to the shed the fire ha I apparently got a pretty good hold, and the flames had spread a considerable distance along the inside of the building. There were three trucks laden with wool standing close to the she I, which ne uncoupled. Two or three persons then put in an appearance, and with their assistance he rau the trucks along the railway line out of the reach of the fire. Very shortly afterwards the whole of the building was enveloped in flames. The origin of the fire has not been ascer. taioed. The last persona who were known to have been iu the building were two railwiy employes mined Wilkins aud Aitchinson, who entered the shed about 10 o’clock on Saturday night for the purpose of obtaining some trout which had been left there.

The night watchman (Mr T. H. Mann states that he passed the shed last evening about a quarter to 8, and everything thenappeared to he perfectly sa f e.'ThVes-quarters of,ap hour later he was within 101) yards of the shed and did' hot observe, any signs of fire.

There appear' to have heen an unaocountable delay in giving the alarm, and also in ringing tne fireball; so when the city and railway fire brigades arrived od the scene almost the entire length of the building was on fire, and the flames were issuing out of tbo root and at the sides in different places. Some time elapsed, too, before the water could be got on to the building, and by that time it was a hopeless task to extinguish the flames, The however, worked well ; and after exerting themselves for nearly two hours, they succeeded in extricating from the charred remains of the building five railway trncke, all more or less destroyed. There were twelve of tdese in the building, and as they cost something like L6O or L7O a piece, tuey will form a considerable item in the loss sustained by

the Government. The shed was used as an export shed, and we are informed the hulk of the goods it contained previous to the fire had been removed on Saturday night the goods remaining chiefly consisting of sheepskins, bides, and wool in trucks, and some groceries. On tnis point, however, it was impossible to obtain any definite information, as it will require some four to five hours’ work in the way of examination of papers before the goods which were despatched can be checked eff and the goods remaining ascertained. The valne of the goods destroyed is variously estimated, and the highest figures given were L3QOO { but

tbii la only conjecture. All the railway officials, from Mr Grant downwards, agree in saying that there was very little in the shed beyond' what was contained in the trucks. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Co., Donald Keid and Co., and Mackerras and Hazlett are. mentioned as interested, either as agents hr owners,' in the goods destroyed. .The building being Government property was uninsured.