TOYLAND ABLAZE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 235, 23 December 1927, Page 16

TOYLAND ABLAZE

FEAST FOR FLAMES FATHER CHRISTMAS SINGED WOMAN ASSISTANT’S CLOSE CALL (From, Our Resident Reporter.) WELLINGTON, To-day. EXCITING scenes were witnessed by a large crowd of Christmas shoppers yesterday in Courtenay Place where a fire broke out in the premises of Norman Aitken, bookseller and stationer. Four people had narrow escapes. One woman was slightly burned and was rescued from the verandah after climbing through a window.

fpHE lire occurred with amazing suddenness on the first floor, which had been converted into a children’s toyland and fairy grotto for Christmas trade. There were many customers on both floors at the time, and over a dozen assistants were upstairs. The outbreak was discovered in the centre of “Fairyland” in the middle of the scenic railway and spread rapidly among the highly inflammable decorations and toys. Fortunately everybody kept cool and all customers were ushered out of the shop by assistants before they had time fully to realise that the place was blazing. One or two shoppers even wished to stay and obtain their change. Father Christmas and two young girls, dressed in flimsy attire as fairies, were entertaining the children at the fairy grotto. These three had lucky escapes, particularly Father Christmas, whose long red gown and hood and flowing beard wfere quickly ablaze. Rushing downstairs he was assisted to discard his flaming clothing before he was seriously burned. Meanwhile Mrs. Carroll, an elderly woman, acting as temporary hand during the Christmas rush, became trapped upstairs. Apparently she remembered leaving in the front long room a huge doll just given her as a Christmas present for her children, and she went to find it. She was unable to return to the head of the stairs, however, owing to the intense heat and roaring flames She ran to the window and was able to climb on to the verandah where her plight immediately was noticed by the gathering crowd and her rescue effected by the police. Flames had had time to reach the unfortunate woman and she was burned about the head. She fainted on being rescued and first aid was rendered at a nearby chemist’s prior to her removal to hospital. The fire brigade arrived with three machines and in a very short time ran a branch through the shop and soon had the blaze under control. Nothing remained of the fairy grotto, and what had been a children’s paradise was reduced to the charred remains of a few petrol boxes on which rested blackened and twisted once a wonderful scenic electric

railway, where there had been hills, valleys, houses and stations, snow scenes made of cotton wool, paper clouds, and numerous gay decorations. All blazed intensely. Scooters, motor-cars, balloons, all kinds of rubber, wood, and celluloid animals, cricket bats, tennis rackets, rubber balls by the hundreds, and dozens of wax dolls adorned the tables and walls of the spacious floor, and all had been sadly spoiled and blackened by the heat and smoke if not entirely reduced to dust. Celluloid and rubber went up in flames at almost explosion rapidity, and wax dolls melted to fantastic shapes. A few minutes sufficed to conquer the conflagration and meantime the firemen spread salvage sheets over counters on the floor below and saved a great deal of stock from damage by water. Assistants worked all the evening to enable the ground floor to be opened for business to-day. The damage is estimated at £3,000 to £4,000. Last year no fewer than 5,000 children visited “Toyland” and record business had been transacted in the last two or three weeks and it was anticipated that to-morrow’s trade would be even bigger.