Explosion in City

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 652, 2 May 1929, Page 16

Explosion in City

ELECTRIC CABLE FUSES

Shop Fronts Wrecked

FIVE o’clock crowds hurrying home last evening witnessed a sensational scene in Lower Queen Street, when a terrific explosion, following the fusing of an electric cable, tore out one shop front and damaged several other plateglass windows.

TT was an underground cable on the “*• left-liand footpath that failed. The fault belched dense clouds of smoke up at the startled pedestrians, who were fortunately diverted from the footway by Constables Collins and Christiansen, of the waterfront police, aided by traffic officers who rushed to the scene. Power Board and tramway officials were also warned of the break. A terrific explosion rent the air a few minutes later. Roaring fiercely, jets of flame flared up from the footway four feet into the air, and a shower of splintered glass was hurled into the roadway. R. Chesney, Ltd’s, delicacy shop, three feet from the scene, lost the whole shop front in the eruption. The display window hurtled into fragments on to the roadway, meats and smallgoods being flung on to the path, while two side windows suffered a similar fate. The ceiling was torn to shreds. A heavy marble counter, an inch thick and four feet wide, was split in three places, while a crosscounter at the far end of the shop was also damaged. NARROW ESCAPES The manageress, Miss M. Browlie, and four assistants had a remarkable escape from serious injury, though all suffered severely from shock. An indication of the severity of the explosion may be gauged from the fact that fragments of glass were thrown to the safety zone on the far side of the road. Mr. H. P. Andrew, headmaster of the Curran Street School, was a victim of the glass shower. He was walking down the tram-rails when he received a deep cut on the foot by a

splinter, compelling him to receive treatment at the Auckland Hospital before continuing home. The tobacconist shop of Mr. .J. W. Coleman, adjoining Chesney’s, Ltd., had two large entrance display windows wrecked, besides a large mirror and plate-glass shelves, goods being emptied on to the footway. Some damage was also done by smoke. A window fronting Queen Street, in Mr. VV. R. Taylor’s, chemist, was also broken. Fully 2,000 people crowded the street, watching the fire, which followed the explosion, the spectators having to be controlled by the police to prevent fire-fighting operations being hampered. PAVEMENT MELTS Dense clouds of smoke issued from three jets of flame coming through the footway. The fire extended along under Chesney, Ltd.’s, premises, burning along the front. The City Brigade’s new unit turned out for the first time and was an effective factor in fighting the flames. Two of the outbreaks were quickly suppressed by cutting holes in the floor of Cheeney’s, Ltd. The third jet, however, was more difficult and the asphalt pavement melted in small pools before it was subdued. The windows and plate glass in Chesney’s, Ltd., is covered by a policy for £SO in the 1.0. A. Office, and there is a £I,OOO fire policy on the sock and fittings. The stock and fittings of J. \V. Coleman’s shop is insured for £I,OOO in the Phoenix Insurance Co., and the plate glass for £123 in the Norwich and London Office.