FIRE IS NIGHTMARE FOR TIMBER MEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 223, 9 December 1927, Page 1

FIRE IS NIGHTMARE FOR TIMBER MEN

SERIES OF DISASTERS The Henderson and Pollard blaze recalls other disastrous timber mill flres. Many years ago Jagger and Parker’s mill in Freeman’s Bay was burned, and subsequently another bad fire swept the buildings on the same site. A big fire once occurred in a timber mill at North Shore, and another opposite the old gasworks, in Fanshawe Street, when the New Zealand Timber Company’s mill was destroyed. The stack, left standing after the fire, can still be seen alongside an unattached brick wall. The plant was never rebuilt, and the property is now used by the Kauri Timber Company. The fire at Cashmore’s Mill, Cox’s Creek, was a disaster of more recent times. With timber men the fear of fire is a nightmare, ever present. THRILL FOR TRAIN PASSENGERS The main railway line from the North passes alongside Henderson and Pollard’s property, and passengers on the early suburban trains felt the scorching heat as they were drawn past the ruins of the big factory. Nearer still were blazing timber stacks, which made the sight more thrilling.