FIRE AT LYTTELTON.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1002, 11 September 1877, Page 2

FIRE AT LYTTELTON.

At 7.20 this morning, as Mr James Angus was talking with two friends in the back yard of the Albion Hotel, he turned round and observed that flames were issuing from the roof of Mr W. Robinson’s bakery, which is a separate building at the back of that gentleman’s shop, and is only divided by a passage, from three to live feet wide, from the Albion Hotel. After running into Mr Robinson’s shop and giving the alarm Mr Angus sent a boy to ring the fire bell, but the flames had by this time been observed by others, and a loud peal warned the Fire Brigade that their services were required before the boy could reach the Council Chambers. The brigade turned out with the alacrity that distinguishes them, and in a very few minutes were on the ground. The flames by this time were burning fiercely and licking the sides of the Albion Hotel, and many thought that nothing could save that building. However, Mr Inspector Sowden and Ins men did not lose a moment; the hydrant was fixed, the base attacked, and barely five minutes after, the alarm was given two powerful jets of water were playing on the burning building. Tire effect was marvellous, in a few seconds the flames fairly collapsed under the powerful stream of water and all danger was past. In fact, twenty minutes after the alarm was given the fire was quenched, the crowd dispersed, and the men who composed the Brigade had quietly gone to work as usual at Bo’clock. The fact that the fire was extinguished so easily is entirely due to the Lyttelton water supply. The pressure was so great. Had the valves not been open and the water through nothing could have saved the Albion Hotel and Messrs King and Co.’s buildings on the other side, and it is more than probable that the whole block from the corner to Messrs Curtis and Co.’s coal yard would have gone. The greatest thanks of the Lyttelton community are therefore due to the Brigade for their great promptness and ability. The building which took fire was, as before stated, a bakehouse, detached from any other premises, and situated at the back of Mr Robinson’s shop, it was on the north side of London street, between the Albion Hotel and the back premises of Messrs King and Co., and was only separated from the latter by passages about three feet wide. The building was used as a bakehouse, and Mr Robinson was heating the oven preparatory to baking a batch when the fire broke out. It is supposed to have arisen through some bricks having fallen out of the chimney and the flame catching some old empty kerosene tins which were stored against it. The building was two-storied, and the upper part, or loft, was in two divisions, in one of which was stored ten tons of flour, the property of Mr Robinson, whilst the other was a place for the reception of lumber. The building was, wo hear, insured for TOO, but Mr Robinson’s flour was uninsured. The lower part of the building was not burned. The greatest thanks are due to the Borough Council for their persistence in insisting on the water being on even before the works were formally handed over to them.