OTAGO.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume V, Issue 225, 10 February 1865, Page 2

OTAGO.

DREADFUL CONFLAGRATIONS. FIRE IN STAFFORD-STREET.

About 1 o’clock yesterdoy morning, the 14tn, the fire-bell pealed an alarm, and it was evident, from the violence and rapidity with which it was Tung, that the fire was one of no trifling nature. Stafford-street was again the scene of the conflagration. The fire broke out in the Staffoixf Arms Hotel, occupied by Mr John Irwin, about one hundred yards above Hope-street, and spread in both directions with fearful rapidity. In on amazingly short space of time, seven buildings, including the Stafford Arms Hotel, fell victims to the devouring elements; and, sad to relate, one victim perished in the ruins. Smoke was first observed by Albert Oalden, fireman, issuing from the top part ef. the building, and he instantly gave the alarm. The inmates of the hotel were all in bed at the time, exceptihg Mr Irwin, the proprietor, who was sitting in the front room reading, and he instantly alarmed the household, atM all made their escape excepting one unfortunate man, named Thomas Ahearn, who, it is supposed, perished while attempting to rescue others. The escape, however, was made with great difficulty. Fourteen persons were in the hotel at the time, and all, excepting Mr Irwin, who had not retired to rest, and Thomas Ahearn, who perished, fled from the burning building as they sprang from their beds. Nothing whatever is known regarding the origin of the fire. Various, and, as is usually the case, conflicting rumors were current during the day. One rumor was to the effect that it had its origin in the kitchen, in consequence of the fuel in the grate not having been properly extinguished. The cause of the catastrophe' must, however, at least for the present, remain a matter of conjecture. We take the following account of another fire from the Otago Times of the 20th ult.:— ■FIRE IN HOPE-STREET. Another fire occurred last night. It was not in Stafford-street, but it was close to it, within a stone’s throw of the scene of the fatal fire on Saturday night, and almost immediately opposite the fine brick and stone building which occupies the site of the old bonded store known as Cooper’s—the destruction of which was so serious an item in the a gg re g ate of the “ great fire,” not twelve months ago. Last night’s burning commenced—according to the statements of

those in the neighborhood—in an empty house, which stood the highest of three in one block, on the southerly side of. Hopestreet. Next to it below was a boardinghouse kept by a Mr Meehan, which formed part of the same structure as another boarding-house kept by a Mr Ferguson. Above, a narrow right-of-way separated the empty building from a small cottage occupied by Mr Walker, who is employed in the shop of Mr Switzer, boot and shoe dealer, Princess-street;. and this closely abutted upon a larger cottage- occupied by Mr Martin, tailor. Of these five dwellings, nothing was left but embers and ebimneystacks, in less than half a. hour after the alarm hell was sounded. The names of the owners of the houses could not be learned with certainty last night; but we were told that the boarding-houses belonged to Mr Kiordan,

FIRE IN PRINCES-STREET. A THIRD TERRIBLE FIRS IN DUNEDIN WITHIN TEN DAYS. A terrible conflagration has occurred in Dunedin. Many persons had been seriously injured, and it was feared farther enquiries would show there had been a sacrifice of human life. Property to the amount of about £40,000 had been destroyed. Thefollowingisalistof the property destroyed:— Sank of Otago, £5,000; fully insured Exchange Hotel, £2,000; insured for £1,600 Paris and London Restaurant, £140; uninsured John Fargie, merchant, £600; insturedfor£3oo p" James Robertson, grocer, £I,OOO, insured for £6OO 'Wilkinson & Dixon, Medical Hall. At the rear, Stephen & Laing Commission Agents; and Mackay J& Co., printers, £1,600; insured for 1,100 ; Butement Brothers, cordial manufacturers, £1.200; insured for £IO3O Stanford & Co., Kerosene and Sewing Machine Depot, £2,500; insured for £1,500 J. Mackay, bookseller and Stationer, £1,500; insured for £SOO Fergusson & Mitchell, Engravers and Printers, £4,000 ; insured for £2,650 Gillies & Street, Auctioneers and Land and Estate Agents, loss nominal Evans, Kinnelly, & Co., Land Agents, loss £SO. W. Mellmish, photographer, £210; insured for £l9O There are many minor losses, and claims for damages to fronts, windows, Ac., on the’opposite side of the street. It is probable the total destruction of property amouuts to £40,000; actual losses to sufferers, £15,000. We give the following from the Daily Times, January 24: "We have now to record a fire, which for its calamitous extent, is second in the history of Dunedin only to the great conflagration in Staf-ford-street. But that fire resulted in little injury to persons, and there was no loss of life. The one that occurred on Tuesday has certainly resulted in very severe injury to several persons; glad, indeed, shall we be if examination should prove that there has not also been a lamentable loss of life. The alarm hell was rung shortly before two o’clock. Those who were in houses in the neighborhood of Ratfray-street and High-street, on nearing Princes-street, were met by a suffocating smoke, through which nothing could be seen, but which was laden with great flakes of fire. Almost ere one could ask where the danger was, flames shot out high and most fierce from the back of the Exchange Hotel, which stood on tho easterly side of Princess-street, almost midway between the Bank of New Zealand and the corner of Dowling-street. At the same instant men and women, all but naked, rushed from the hotel into the street. One jumped from the front window; others leaped or scrambled through windows at the side of the hotel, which stretched far back, and there was a narrow right-of-way between it and the Bank of Otago, which stood next on the lower side. One man, bleeding freely from the head and neck, was taken into tho care of the police and sent to the Hospital. His night-clothes were burned, and he was most severely scorched. Others, bleeding, and with their night dresses burned into ribbons, were also rushing about. Mr G. Donne, and one or two others, whose names we could not learn, forced their way into the hotel and roused some poor fellows, whom not all the din nor the horrible flapping of the flames had aroused from their burning beds. These, too, were much burh|d, and they were sent to the Hospital or taken info houses on the opposite side of the street, and.there attended to. The flames spread through the hotel with a rapidity thatw as simply terrible; and in what seemed but a minute or two-after the alarm, the shop occupied by Air. Fargie wine and spirit dealer, was on fire. >

On the lower side of tlio hotel stood the two story brick and stone building of the Bank of Otago. Very speedily this was on fire, the flames finding their way through some windows in the side wall and also entering by means of the timbers in the roof. The heat was now most intense ; there was some ■wind, which was northerly, and it blew the flames so far across the street as to place the premises on the opposite side in the most imminent danger. To check this the efforts of the Volunteer Fire Brigade, who got a supply of water for two engines from the water tanks, were first directed.

Meanwhile the flames had spread through Mr Fargie’s premises to those adjoining, which were occupied as a refreshment house. A narrow right-of-way intervened between these and the Medical Hall of Messrs Wilkinson and Co. and this building was shortly lapped in fire. But before this happened, the books of the firm and sdmo portion of the stock had been got out; and efforts, the earnestness of which cannot be over-praised, were being made to dear out the contents of all the

remaining simps, Ac. Between the fire and the corner of Dowling street, very largo quantities of goods were got out and placed in the street; but the damage and loss, even on these, must be most serious.

At this time, the flames had extended to the property in the rear of that facing Princess street, as will be explained hereafter ; but they seemed to be cheeked slightly in their speed along that street But any hopes that it could be checked there were speedily ended. The wind freshened and veered towards tho south ; and then all that remained up to Dowling street was doomed. On the lower side, fortunately the spread of the conflagration was checked. The Bank of Otago was completely gutted ; but all the walls stood firmly. Next to it stands another brick building, tho lower part of which is occupied by Messrs Isaacs and Co., general merchants, and tho upper as offices. It escaped with only, slight damages, if any; and to the shop occupied by Messrs N. Salomon and Go., with the two stories of ofikv s above it, aid the Bank of New Zealand, which adjoined, remained untouched. These two bun-d----ings are .also of brick. Would that they were many more such in different parts of the city. Messrs. Stanford & Co.’s shop became the victim after that of Messrs. Wilkinson & Co., but most of the kerosene had been got out, as well as other portions of the stock. The premises of Mr Robertson, grocer; Mr Mackay, printer and bookseller; Messrs Ferguson & Mitchell, engravers, printers, and stationers; Messrs Gillies and Street, surveyors and land agents; and Messrs Evans & Kenelly, house and estate agents—all these, fronting Princes-street, were soon caught and passed over by the flames. Then there happily came the gap caused by Dowling-street On the opposite side of the way stands the fine unfinished three-storey building of Messrs Gillies and Street, into which they were to have commenced removing to-day. When the three shops at tho Dowling-street end wero burning, the danger of the Oriental Hotel, on the opposite side, was most imminent..

The fire spread rapidly backwards towards the harbor. In this direction was the old Presbyterian Church, converted for the time being into a wool store. In this building had been placed only the same morning, two hundred and fifty-five bales of wool, belonging to Messrs SPLandress, Hepburn and Co. The flames spread with, fearful rapidity, and it was at once seen that all attempts to save the buildings to the hack of tiio hotel j\-ould be futile. .. But a spirited effort was made to save the valuable contents of the old church, and plenty of volunteers wero found. In a few minutes windows and doors were broken clown and outlets made for the wool bales which wero rapidly rolled out. This operation was attended with considerable danger as the fire marched with rapidity on the heels of the salvors. But so zealously did they work, that out of the 255 bales of wool in the building two hundred wtn-e saved. Durum this work several of those engaged had very nar” row escapes. In one instance two men were engaged in attempting to roll out a bale of wool from a window, the fire at the time appearing to bo many yards in their rear ; but in a moment, a huge gust of flame surged over them, and they had barely time to fling themselves out of the windows to the ground, not, however, without one of the men getting his clothes almost burnt off his back.

As tho fire proceeded and the remaining bales of wool blazed furiously, it became a matter of anxiety whether it was possible to secure the new Presbyterian Church, which was barely twenty yards distant from tho now blazing building. Access was had to the roof, and from it water was poured down on the corner most in danger. The wind luckily curled the flames in an eddy divergent from the church, and although the "walls of the building smoked and blistered, it appeared a bare possibility that the church could be saved. Prom the first, as we have said, it was manifest that the efforts of the Brigade must be directed to saving the buildings on the opposite side of the street. The vast body of flame almost swayed across to the opposite buildings, but the current of wind luckily gave the flames a turn down the street, leaving only the intense heat for the firemen to contend against. Had any single building on this side caught fire, the result would have been terrible to contemplate, for with tho wind blowing strongly in the quarter it was, the fire must have swept down the whole block of buildings—from the Oriental Hotel to the Shamrock. The crisis of the fire was undoubtedly when it had reached the offices of Gillies & Street, for opposite was the Oriental Hotel with its projecting balconies and ornamental woodwork, that would fire almost like matchwood. The heat was so intense that the walls of the hotel reeked and blistered, and, in fact, on one occasion, actually took fire. But the water thrown by the Brigade and from within the building sufficed to keep it from igniting, and as tho fire gradually declined in ferocity on the other side, ail danger to the hotel was removed. The conduct of the Brigade was beyond all praise. One of the volunteers while directing a jet of water on the hotel, had the back part of his helmet curled up with the heat, and another had the clothes on his back all but burning. Nor were other instances ot personal bravery wanting, for on no previous occasion have such earnest efforts been made by the bystanders to save the adjoining property.