SPECTACULAR FIRE

Hokitika Guardian, 5 December 1930, Page 4

SPECTACULAR FIRE

THIRTY CARS DESTROYED. . (By Telegraph—Per Press Association.) HASTINGS, December 5. About thirty cars, only two or three of which were new, were destroyed by fire which, following a violent*.ex-.., plosion apparently caused by benzine, completely gutted a two storied wood ■. and iron annex to J. G. Peach.‘and Coy’s, garage at the corner of Eastborne Street and Karamu Road, Hastings in the early hours of this morn- , iag. The fire was one of the fiercest and most spectacular seen in Hastings during recent years, and in hardly more than ten minutes had done its des>tructive work. The flames lit up the whole neighbourhood so vividly that, it seemed at first as though even the> buildings across the street were ablazeThe brigade was quickly on the scene and did / magnificent work against heavy odds. The main part of the garage, in which a very large number of cars were stored, was separ-. ated from the annex by a thick brick wall and was not affected except by smoke and water. The annex was an old building, at one time known asi Sorenson’s building. The insurances are unavailable.