Fire Destroys Mission Station's Wine Cellars

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 729, 31 July 1929, Page 1

Fire Destroys Mission Station's Wine Cellars

BLAZE NEAR NAPIER MARIST FATHERS’ LOSS Press Association NAPIER, Today. Fire completely gutted two wine cellars at Mount St. Mark’s Mission Station, Greenmeadows, four miles from Napier, last evening, and destroyed nearly 25,000 gallons of wine, valued at a pound a gallon. The Napier Fire Brigade was called to the scene about 7.30, half an hour after the outbreak, but the task was a hopeless one from the beginning. The only water was to be had, from a creek three hundred yards away. The flames had such a hold when the brigade began operations that all attempts proved fruitless, and attention was successfully turned to the saving of the adjoining buildings. The outbreak is believed to have had its beginning in the fusing of an electric wire in the ceiling of one of the cellars. The flames consumed the roof, which collapsed, and then the barrels holding the w'ine took fire when the wine burst out it formed a stream that flowed out into the roadway. A quantity of the wine was bottled and cased and the straw fed the flames. It is believed that the insurances on the building and wine, which were held by the United Office, totally cover the loss. Much of the wine was prepared ready for export. The mission is conducted by the Marist Fathers, and is well known for its grape growing and wine manufacturing. The wine in store was in varying stages of maturity, some being very old. Many of the mechanical devices used for such purposes as bottling, corking, and labelling were destroyed, besides a large quantity of casks recently purchased.