DESTRUCTIVE FIRE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26641, 11 December 1947, Page 6

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE

BUILDING GUTTED FORWARDING COMPANY’S STORE P.A. INVERCARGILL, Dec. 10. One of the biggest and most spectacular fires seen in Invercargill for many years broke out in the Empire Forwarding Company’s building in Leven street shortly after 10 o’clock to-night. The flames had a strong hold when the brigade was called and were shooting through the roof as the fire engines tore down Esk street. Soon the whole of the first floor was a mass of flames which were fed by a large quantity of inflammable material, including drums of oil and household furniture. The Invercargill office of the Bluff Harbour Board in Leven street was destroyed and the hardware store of Fairbairn, Wright, Ltd., below was damaged but some of the stock was salvaged. For over an hour the fire burned fiercely but by 11.30 the firemen had gained control. Fortunately, there was no wind. Six of the company’s trucks, some charred, were driven out while the fire raged above. The building is next to the rear part of the Grand Hotel and between them is a right of way only about 20 feet wide. The fire broke out on the first floor at the Leven street end where all sorts of goods were stored. This section of the building is joined to the Dee street portion by a covered-in passage-way, but the flames were kept away from the Dee street end in which there are a doctor’s surgery, clothing factories, a women's hairdressing salon, a frock shop and a tailor’s shop. The gutted building was owned by S. McDonald, Ltd., of Invercargill.