Meagre Water Supply

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 106, 26 July 1927, Page 8

Meagre Water Supply

Firemen Under Handicap

LAST night Auckland narrowly escaped one of the worst fires in its history. But for the dogged tenacity of the firemen, houses across the road would have been enveloped in the fire which destroyed the Salvation Army Home. Throughout their arduous hour the Parnell and City brigades operated under the handicap of a meagre water supply. At first there was no water at all, and never was there enough.

THE gravity of last night’s situation was such that, for a time, it was possible a whole block of houses would be swept. In its early stages the tire was confined to the Salvation Army Home’s laundry, a detached building. When the flames got into the main building, the people living in near-by homes were thrilled by the spectacle of the flames taking charge, ever becoming more menacing, while the fire-

men were helpless with no water available and their hoses flat and useless. The water came after several minutes had passed, but its volume then was insufficient. Playing against the wind, the jets from the hoses could not at first reach the walls of the blazing building. In consequence the brigades had to abandon any efforts to save it, and concentrated on the adjoining houses.

What happened last night may happen in any part where the city is reticulated with four-inch water-mains. This is the case in many older-settled localities, and it is in those, with their packed-together timber houses, that the danger is greatest. Fire-fighting standards the world over demand that at least ISS gallons

of water per minute be poured from each lead of hose.

Last night the Auckland firemen had no hope of reaching these standards. All the water coming through the mains in the neighbourhood of the fire did not yield much more than 200 gallons per minute, and this, for the safety of the threatened houses, had to be distributed between four leads of hose.

Pressure in terms of pounds is hardly so important in fire-fighting as the volume of water, but it means something, all the same. Last night, for instance, the standard one-inch nozzles had to be discarded and fiveeighth or three-quarter-inch nozzles employed. All this affected the amount that could be poured on the fire. A pressure of 75 pounds is considered the minimum with which fire can be handled. Last night, when the water came through, the pressure was at first not more than 60 pounds.

That there was water available at all was largely due to the fact that water from the Khyber Pass reservoir was brought in to augment the supply. This was done early in the proceedings, as a matter of routine, while the engine was on its way, but the small size of the mains did not permit an adequate volume even then to come through to Parnell. TESTS CONDUCTED This morning tests cf the water available at the scene of \he fire were carried out. In Churton Street, opposite the smoking ruins of the home, the volume was sluggish. It was better at the near-by corner of Earl and Bradford Streets, but from that point had to come all last night’s supply. “The pressure was poorer than I have known it for a long time. The small size of the mains is chiefly the trouble,” was the comment of Superintendent Wilson, of the City Fire Brigade.

The Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, said an investigation this morning had revealed small mains to be the source cf the trouble. The miins were part of the system taken over by the city from the old Parnell Borough Council. Where possible, the City Council was laying larger mains, but such an undertaking could not be done all at once.