SENSATIONAL FIRE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 9 December 1927, Page 5

SENSATIONAL FIRE

IN AUCKLAND JOINERY MILL SEVERAL FIREMEN BURNED. MANY NARROW ESCAPES. (Special to “Tribune.”) Auckland, Dec. 9. « A fire presenting many sensational features broke out early this morning in the joinery factory of Henderson and Pollard, who own large plant at Mount Eden. The nightwatchman went off duty at 2 a.m. leaving the premises apparently in order, but three hours later the main block was on lirb from end to end. The three-storied wooden building blazed with a ferocity that recalled other famous timber fires in Auckland industrial history and within an hour the joinery mill was in ruins from which rose the gaunt smoke-stock and red hot machinery. Meanwhile, the fire had threatened to spread and was assuming disastrous proportions. FIREPROOF DOORS NO I OBSTACLE. Henderson and Pollard own a three-storey brick store alongside the main building, which is used for storing glass, putty, and doors, among which was a notable line exhibited at the Dunedin Exhibition and much valued. In spite of double fireproof doors the fire got into this building and the top floor was soon a mass of flames. I'he heat was so intense that the hoses across the street were charring and blistering. Occupants wejie removing their furniture and their alarm was shared by many other residents of the closely settled area. t A DESPERATE FIGHT. ' On several occasions the house occupied by H. Pollard was actually alight but firemen, holding their posts by sheer fortitude, repeatedly quenched the flames. Several firemen were badly burned. Their position would have been untenable had they not constantly turned the hose on themselves. The telephone and light services in the neighbourhood were disorganised when the flames spread the poles lining the streets. Live wire falling when the posts collapsed, badly burned Superintendent Williams, of the Mount Eden Brigade. From the outset there was little hope of saving Henderson aud Pollard's main mill, but the fire in the glass store was finally got under control, though not until the top floor had been gutted and the lower floors flooded. BRICK WALL BULGES. The heat caused the brick wall ol the glass store to bulge threateningly and warnings from onlookers allowed H. Pollard, principal of the firm, who was inspecting the burning property, to jump clear just in time when the upper part of the wall collapsed. A further danger was introduced by fears that the boiler would burst and the smokestack collapse, while close alongside were the ammunition and explosive stores of the Colonial Ammunition Coy., introducing pern in another form. The fire was extending that way by means of stacks of dried timber. Just across by the railway siding was the large mill and yard of the Kauri Timber Coy. and the stacks on this property also caught alight for an hour.

LARGE QUANTITY OF TIMBER DESTROYED.

The firemen waged a desperate battle against the flames on this quarter and finally drove them back, though not before a large quantity of timber had been destroyed. As the fire was checked in one direction it developed in another and onlookers were suddenly thrilled to see flames appear in the top storey of a modern concrete building across the road from the scene of the main fire. This, too, is owned by Henderson and Pollard, who not long ago erected it as an extension to their plant. The intense heat had set alight to the roof and window frames but danger was averted when volunteers climbed with buckets and arrested this startling development. UNDER CONTROL.

Bv 7 o’clock the fire was definitely unjer control, though huge timber stacks were still blazing. The main mill was a red-hot ruin and a scene of utter disaster. At this stage Herbert Pollard, the head of the unfortunate firm, which had a similar disastrous blaze 20 years ago, collapsed and had to be driven away in an ambulance. His condition is now satisfactory. Insurances are not available, but the total less’is expected to be very heavy. As a result op the fire about 100 men will be thrown out of employment.