FIRE AT THE OIL BORES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 21, 18 February 1909, Page 3

FIRE AT THE OIL BORES

LUCKY ESCAPE OF HIE DERRICK.

About four o'clock yesterday morning the fire-bell on the Central .station sounded an alarm. The lire wa, located at the Tiiranaki I'euoleum i.oinpanys No. 2 well at Moturoa. The lire brigade turned out promptly, and started on to the scene of the lire with a reel and hose, but, finding that the eonllagiatioii was beyond the limits of the high pressure water supply, the reel was reiuriied to tiie station. Several of the firemen went on, and, under Captain Bcllrkigcr, rendered valuable assistance. The petroleum burned fiercely, and flames rose to a considerable height, beyond which rolled huge columns of dence black smoke. A crowd soon gathered. From the arriving steamer Kaiawa the scene was as tpaud as tile outbreak was serious. Three or four hours passed before the llauies subsided. Pumping of oil and water from the hole had been going on all night, an engine-driver only being employed. A I little before three o'clock in the morning he attended to his firing in the boiler-house at the rear of the rig. After doing so he looked towards the three iron tanks in use at the bore and found that flames were coming from that nearest to the rig, into which he was the.i pumping o, ..mi water, lie called to his mate, who would have le-licu-d him later on, and who was sleep iug in the office close by. They found that the flames had too big a hold for them to do anything, so one cycled into New Plymouth, and, having called Mr. Simpson, the manager, rang the firebell aud returned to the works. About this time the oil in the two other tanks caught alight, and a pipe connection in the first, one giving way allowed the burning oil to run towards the shed where the *oil was stored in casks. Seeing that, this must burn, men were put on, and" some 128 barrels of oil were rolled* iuto the road, but by this time the heat was intense aud the she'd on fire, so some 70 barrels had to be left to the flames. At one time it was feared that the derrick would be burnt, but fortunately a south-westerly wind was blowing, and it carried the Haines away from it. The derrick, however became intensely hot, and there was considerable danger of the gas—of which the well is giving oil' large quantities—igniting; but, fortunately, this did not occur. The loss seems to become 3,000 gallons of oil in the iron tanks, 70 Iwrrels containing oil, the oil store itself (a some what cheap erection to keep the bar rels out of the sun only), and a fewchains of four-railed fencing. Tire tanks do not seem to be damaged much. On the whole, the Company is very fortunate in that no more uanger was done, especially as it will be able to resume work almost at once.

The Tarauaki farmers may well be pleased that the wind blew yesterday morning from the south-west. Had the " mountain wind," or gate, of the previous week been blowing when the fire occurred, the Moturoa freezing works, the property of the co-operative dairying companies in Taranaki, must have been destroyed. In 9uch an event the derrick at the No. 2 bore could not have been saved, for the building is saturated with oil and would have burned like tinder.