UNUSUAL CAUSE OF FIRE

Taupo Times, Volume V, Issue 208, 27 January 1956, Page 3

UNUSUAL CAUSE OF FIRE

Reflection Of Sun's Rays From Aluminium Roof An unusual cause of an outbreak of fire, one that has probably not been experienced previously, has been reported by Mr C. F. Sherley, of Heathcote Street, Taupo. About 4.45 p.m. on Friday last, January 20, the heat of the sun's rays, reflected on to the western side of Mr Sherley's house from the unpainted roof of a house on the Ministry of Work's Geothermal Project's residential area in Tamamutu Street, set fire to the blind and curtains on a window. Mrs Sherley, who was in the room at the time, heard a sharp crack, as though a small pebble had been thrown at the window, and turning toward the window to see what had caused the noise saw the righthand bottom corner of the blind burst into flame. Mrs Sherley at once pulled down a small eurtain, across the top of the casement window, which was beginning to scorch, and threw it outside. She then pulled the eurtain off the bottom half of the window and threw it outside, and with the help of a poker managed to get the blind roller free and toss it outside also. Mrs Sherley then extinguished the burning fragments and called Mr Brian Armstrong builder, who was working on a nearby honse. Mr Armstrong, who is a member and the secretary of the Taupo Yolunteer Fire Brigade, at once went to the scene and found that the fire was safety out. The glass of the casement was eracked in two places, and tlie window frame was scorehed and blackened, but no serions damage resulted. Had Mrs Sherley not been present when the outbreak occurred, however, a serious fire could have been caused. Mr Sherley's house is situated close to the back boundary of the section, and the aluminium roof of the neighbouring dwelling is about forty or fifty feet away. The relative positions of the houses, and the angles at which the afternoon sun strikes the aluminium roof are apparently such as to canse the snn's rays to be reflected with great intensity. Owing to the heat the casement window had been stayed open, and the blind had been pulled down to keep out the reflected glare. One end of the blind stick had been wedged against the side of the window frame, and the other end wedged into the corner fromed by the glass and the window sash itself, so that the eurtain and blind stick were both in contact with the glass. The fire started at the point where the blind-stick and eurtain were thus against the glass, and it was there that the window had cracked. Mr Sherley notified the Rotorua office of the insurance company holding the fire risk on the honse, whose inspector later inspected the premises. He stated that he did not know of a fire from such a cause having previously occurred, but said that it was evident that, given a similar combination of circumstances to those existing at the time, there was obviously a fire hazard from the sun's heat reflected from an aluminium roof. He stated that in view of this hitherto unrealised danger the occurrence would be reported to the Dominion Fire Council.