DAMAGE BY FIRE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 22 July 1929, Page 5

DAMAGE BY FIRE

OUTBREAKS IN CHRISTCHURCH AN INCENDIARIST AT LARGE (By Telegraph—Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, This Hay. Damage estimated at £IO,OOO was Uon e late last night when a bulk store oi J. M. Heywood, Ltd., Dundas street, was damaged by lire. The outbreak was, it is believed, the work ol a lire maniac who is at large in .the city. A padlock was missing from the front door, the building being open earlier m the evening. Slight damage was done to the sample rooms of Ambler and Company in Hereford Place by an liiceudiarist who smashed a glass panel in the door and set fire to a cloth cover over some goods. Heywood’s building was full of lurinture in cases, the property of clients of the company. This had apparently been deliberately ignited and the dry timber of the cases and ttie furniture burnt furiously. When the head storeman left the premises at noon on Saturday, the building was safe and was carefully locked up. The outbreak was discovered at 11.22 o’clock last evening. Wijth a qonstabie only /ten yards away, the incendiarist set fire at about 8 o’clock to the sample rooms of Ambler and' Co., which are next to the garage jA R. C. Dobson, which has twice previously been set alight. Slight damage was done when the fire was detected. A glass panel in the door had been smashed. Stuffed into this gap was a motorist’s white dust coat, which is now in the possession of the police. It is probable that the incendiarist used the ccyh -to cover his hand when he smashed the glass in the door. He apparently put a light to the cloth dust , cower which had been laid over the goods. This cover was burnt and the goods which were underneath were badly charred. The sum of £25 will cover the damage. Another sensational incident during the weekend was an attempt early on Sunday morning to enter the shop of Hammond and Turner, Ltd., the premises in which Mr E. Hammond was seriously wounded by a burglar on Tuesday night. A heavy glass panel was smashed in the front door, but the burglar was unable to manipulate 'the locks and could not gain admittance by a similar method. j The Self Help Grocery shop in Lincoln road was entered about the same time. Nothing was stolen. THREE DWELLINGS ABLAZE v • WELLINGTON,. 21st July. The fire brigade received a call to 140, Suftell Terrace, Newtown, where a six-roomed wooden two-storey dwelling, owned and occupied by Mrs Mar.garet McEriney, was found .to be well alight. Considerable difficulty was experienced in effecting a coupling with the hydrant, with the result that leads ol water had to be brought from further afield. By the time the brigade was in a fair position to direct a head of water on the flames an adjoining twostoreyed building on the northern side, owned and occupied by Arthur John Gray, had also caught fire, as well as a new two‘-storeyed dwelling to the north of Mrs McEriney’s house, owned and occupied by Mr Bert .Kirkland. As Mrs McEriney’s house was shut up at the time of the fire and the occupants were away, nothing -is known of the origin of the outbreak.