AMBASSADORS FIRE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 744, 17 August 1929, Page 30

AMBASSADORS FIRE

NOTED SYDNEY CABARET DAMAGED CROWDS ESCAPE SAFELY The elaborately pillared Ambassadors dancing restaurant was in chaos on the day following the lire which in a few moments one recent night cleared the merry dancing couples from the floor. Damage was estimated between £15,000 and £20,000, says an Australian exchange. Everywhere were signs of the battle fought desperately by the firemen against flames which threatened to devour all the Ambassadors and spread over the entire block of buildings, which is recognised as one of the danger fire spots of Sydney. The fire started in the Pitt Street entrance of MacNauglit’s boot shop. A wire fused between the two ceilings of the entrance. Fanned by a powerful draught the flames soon were roaring through the Ambassadors,' where smoke filtered into the ballroom. Couples went on dancing or laugh- i

| ing gaily at the tables. They did not ! know that while they were dancing i the place was being undermined by j flames. | They were told to go, but of the 300 guests at the Golden Wattle Ball few took the opportunity. ! Some said they would rather stay i on as they had been told there was ! no danger. So the band played on. Then there was a trickle of flame ! through the roof. Smoke belched into the room and the guests realised : there was greater danger than they 1 had thought and fled hurriedly. The catering manager, however. ■ said there was no panic. He admitted that a woman fainted, but that was : due more to excitement than to the fire. 1 “Those who were more overcome by smoke were assisted by others to fresh air,” he said. “It. was only when the ballroom was filled with smoke and flames licked through the ceiling that the guests went out through the three exits, and then they left in orderly fashion.” The ballroom was the only part damaged, but all the other sections of the cabaret were affected by water and smoke. The whole place looks bedraggled. ! The band played lustily on in .true

Nero fashion while the fire was burning. When the hall was cleared during the fire many of the instruments were lost, although the drummer made a vain attempt to salvage them. Left Coats Behind Next day the cloakroom attendants had 30 men’s overcoats. They were awaiting their owners. The women's cloaks were taken to the police station, where most of them were claimed. Great damage was done to the stock at the Pitt Street entrance of McNaught’s. Shoes were ruined by water and heat. The ceiling was burnt out and part of the staircase in ihe shop was charred. No valuables were reported lost by the Ambassadors guests. One man re-entered the building to retrieve a gold cigarette case. When it was found imperative to leave, there was a cry: “Get the women out.” A party of men plunged into the smoke-filled room. One girl fell in a faint. She was carried to safety. A man who collapsed in the smoke was led out by a fireman. One man. in response to a girl’s appeal, tied a handkerchief over his nose and rescued her coat.