THE OPUNAKE FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 206, 8 February 1915, Page 8

THE OPUNAKE FIRE.

lack of water, considerable damage. _ During tin; past two or three years there have been several disastrous' lire's in t!ie township of Opunake, which have cuu.-ed considerable loss of property, and the list was added to on Friday nighth, when, as the result of a fire which is supposed to have originated in tins hotel kitchen, the Opunake Hotel, a largo two-storied building, owned hv Mr. 'J'. Knowles, nf New Plymouth, anil occupied by Mr. E. B. Stohr, was totally destroyed, together with most of the contents, as were also a cottage adjoining, occupied by the stall', a large new stable occupied by Mr. T. Iteisenbuttel, Aiken's blacksmith's shop, and Judson's coachlmilding establishment. €. Little's parage and other prcmiaos had a, very narrow escape. The first intimation that anything was amiss was received at about 9.45 p.m., when a native rushed into the bar and informed the licensee that the place was on fire, as he had observed smoke issuing from upstairs. Mr. Stohr and some friends immediately rushed upstairs, and" no-t-ceil smoke coming from beneath the skirting boards. They could not locate the seat of the fire, however, untif they went dowir.tairs into the kitchen, where it was discovered to be in a cupboard alongside the kitchen, used for the storage of pots, etc. A bucket or two of ivat'T was procured by those pre-

sent, and thrown on, the finmos, which were apparently subdued, but they soon broke out again upstairs. Had a good supply of water been available there is .every probability that a few buckets might have stopped the blaze in its early stages Unfortunately, the hotel tanks had all run dry, and water has had to be carted from the river, a galvanised iron tank on a spring trap being utilised for the purpose. This contained a little water, which was soon used up. The well was some little distance awav. The fire, fanned by the wind, rapidly gained headway, and in a short time the building, which was very old, and dry as tinder, was doomed. The fire bell had rung, and this quickly caused a crowd to collect, the majority of the townspeople being at a bazaar in the Town Hall, Mrs. Stohr, the wife of the licensee, being among the number. The crowd, though willing, was, in the absence of any water supp'y and adequate fire-fight : ng appliances, practically impotent, but worked heroically in salvaging the stock and saving the nearby buildings as they became endangered. Some of the stock from the bar. as well as a piano and some miscellaneous effects to the value, of £ls were salvaged, .but it is alleged that a lot of the salvaged stock was stolen.

Constable Clouston was quickly on the scene, and bis first rtutn was to go through the. building and see that no one was left asleep on the premises. Fortunately, however, on account of the early hour at which the outbreak occurred, only one nerson had retired, and he was quickly about at the first, warning. Had the fire taken place later in the night there might easily have been loss of life to chronicle, as the hof»l wa« fairly full of boarders. Constable O'Wll of Rahotu, arrived later, and rendered assistance.

I From the hotel the fire, spread to a small cottage next door, occupied by the scene, and his first duty was to go such an event, had removed their personal effects to a place of safety. The cottage was quickly demolished. When it was see n that the big new stable was in danger, the horses, traps and harness were removed to a place of safety, save the trap, which had been utilised for the cartage of water to the hotel. This was left in the yard and burnt. The scene at the height of tlie fire, just prior to the collapse of the building, was a magnificent 0113, the glare being visible for miles round and attracting motor loads as far away as Manaia and Rahotu. Judson's shop, and Aiken's smithy next door, then caught, and were licked up by the flames. Tittle's motor garage was also in danger. It had contained a couple of waggons and a 'bus owned by the TaranaV.i Transport Company, as well as private cars, and these were all taken to a place of safety. Tlie motor 'bus was minus its back wheels, which had jusr, been re-tyred, but these were hurriedly re-filled. ' In the now vacant parage a willing gang of workers, under Mr J. P. Tiurd'on, the owner, established themselves, and by judicious use of spray pumps and buckets of water were able to save this, building, though it got considerably scorched and was ablaze on several occasions. Tlie fact that it was of galvanised iron walls on concrete foundations materially assisted the impromptu fire brigade. Another gang was busy with water and blankets keeping the fire from the shops of T. Wallis and A. Clarke opposite. Fortunately the wind was blowing away from them, and though the heat was intense, and they received a severe scorching, they were practically undamaged. Had the fire touched that side of the street it must have; caused, the destruction of the wliole of that end of the town, for there is no modern concrete building there, as at the other end of the town, to block the progress of the fire.

A cottage near by, occupied by H. Norfolk, was ignited several times hv flying sparks, but the fire was each time extinguished before it made any headway. The people in the cottages at the back, particularly Mr C. Callaghan. had a hot time for a while, but the wind dropped and they escaped damage. By twelve o'clock all danger was over. The cause of the fire is a mystery and can only be attributed to a faulty chimney, as no one, had been in the kitchen since 7 p.m.. when all was left apparently safe. Mr Stohr could not definitely estimate his loss, but he must be a heavy loser, for he had a big stock on hand. He has at once made preparations to re-open a temporary bar. Messrs iTudsnn. Aiken, and Mr Heisenbuttel all lose considerably. The insurances, as far as could be ascertained at Opunake on Saturday, are as follows: Hotel, owned by T. Knowles. and occupied by K B. Stohr. on the building, CISOO in the Guardian and £SOO in the Commercial Union; on the stock and furniture, £SOO in the '"omnicrcial Union. Stables, belonging to hotel, £3OO in the New Zealand office'.

The building which was occuphd by Messrs Judson and Aiken, was owned by Mr A. Standish, of New Plymouth. It is believed to have been uninsured. Mr Aiken had £4O on hi* tools and stock, and Mr Judson £IOO on his tools and stock, both in the Royal. Th> garage was iiisnred for £lso'. Mr Little Mas not covered by insurance, but fortunately his loss will he slight. It is stated that a few cases of salvaged benzine mysteriously disappeared. |

WANTED—A WATER SUPPLY. In the business area alone of Opunake. the loss from fire must 'have been enormous in the last few years. The majority of the business premises have been replaced by concrete structures, and the appearance of tihe township has been considerably improved thereby, but still the value of a decent water suni ply would have been inestimable Aftnr the last big fire, when Middlotous Hotel and numerous business 'premises went in) in smoke, the nuestion of a water supply, which had been periodically discussed and shelved, was a»a"m brought forward, and again shelved, owing to the ratepayers not being will- ' ing to face the rate—something in the ,

neighbourhood of threepence. Some years ago Hr H. \V. Climi'e. renorted on' a water supply scheme ior the town. He gave alternative reports. One was a gravitation sthenic to bring tlie water liy an S-inch main from the Yv'aiau river at a point about three miles from tie.Main South rond. This would provide a fall of 200 feet, and a pressure of Silbs., at an estimated cost of about £15.000. The alternative scheme was to erect a tower at a height of 100 feet, and pump the water into it. This would cost about "25 per cent, less than the gravitation scheme, but would give a pressure of only 431bs. He strongly recommended, tilie first scheme. Tti<:? rate o;i 3d would also provide drainage for .practically the whole town. Possibly the matter will be brought up again now. It is understood that, providing 'permission could 'nave been obtained from the Town Board to lay the pipes, Mr Stohr had arranged with the Farmers' Co-operative Society, who are putting in a ram and tank for water supply purposes, to elaborate their scheme so as to include supplying his bote'. This, of course, would give" very little pressure in case of lire, but would be of considerable use iu supplying water for the bucket brigade. Failing a water supply, it is very little use having a five brigade with tire flighting appliances. The old manual engine was burnt at a former -big fire, nut a salvage corps might be organised, whoso duty it would be to protect salvaged goods from tlm ravan-es of the iMiscriipulous sneak thief: