WORKS SERIOUSLY DAMAGED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 February 1939, Page 6

WORKS SERIOUSLY DAMAGED

Slaughter and Cooling Rooms Burnt Out SPLENDID WORK BY FIRE-FIGHTERS MASTERTON AND CARTERTON BRIGADES ASSIST One of the most disastrous fires in the history of the Wairarapa swept through the freezing works of Messrs T. Borthwick and Sons Ltd, at Waingawa on Saturday, causing damage unofficially estimated at £20,000. Working for over three hours under extreme difficulties, the Masterton and the Carterton Fire Brigades, supplemented by the Waingawa Works brigade, succeeded in confining the outbreak to the huge beef and mutton slaughter rooms and the cooling room on the first storey, which were completely destroyed. Yesterday morning only the gaunt shell, sustained by the smokegrimed brick walls, remainde of the slaghter block and all the valuable modern beef and mutton killing equipment was buried beneath an indescribable mass of twisted iron and smouldering woodwork. The fire is believed to have started in the drying room where the men hang their clothes over steam pipes,

EARLY RESUMPTION,

Showing no signs of his ordeal of the previous night when he worked for hours with the firemen, clad in a once immaculate dinner jacket,'Mr P. J. Borthwick, a director of the firm, told a “Times-Age” reporter yesterday that: “We will be starting here again in ten days. Arrangements have been made to start drafting on Tuesday for killing elsewhere.’’’ Mr Borthwick refused to discuss the effect of the fire on the four or five hundred men engaged at the Works, but apparently few, if any. will be out of work for any lengthy period. The fire occurred at a most unfortunate time —the peak of the killing season and incidentally the busiest season at Waingawa in the past decade. Farmers, however, should.be little inconvenienced as the determination of the firm to carry on immediately should enable all killing to be proceeded with almost according to schedule. The slaughter rooms are the keystone of the whole intricate system at the works and until operations are resumed in that block the Works are paralysed.

BRIGADE’S QUICK RESPONSE. At 6.57 p.m. the Masterton Fire Brigade was informed by telephone that “the WorkS are completely alight and we want your assistance.” Although Waingawa is outside the Fire Board’s area, the brigade, in charge of Superintendent T. B. Clark, turned out two minutes later with the new pumping unit manned by a crew of eight and was on the scene eight minutes later. But for the new pumping engine practically the whole of the buildings might have gone, and undoubtely the chilling and freezing chambers, containing close on £250,000 worth of beef and mutton, and the engine room, with all its valuable machinery, would have been destroyed.

When the Brigade arrived on the scene the 310 by 40 feet cooling room, the mutton slaughter room, 2.00 by GO feet, the beef room, 200 by GO feet, the crop room and two chilling rooms were burning fiercely and at the outset there appeared to be little chance of saving anything. Drawing its water supply from the dam at the rear of the Works, the brigade concentrated its efforts on the freezing chambers and the engine room, which fortunately were 'only slightly damaged by fire and water. The first story slaughter block was a raging inferno and flames and cascades of sparks shot hundreds of feet into the air. It was an awe-inspiring sight as the intrepid firemen and scores of willing volunteers worked unceasingly for hours on the blazing block, which a few hours previously had been the scene of great activity as hundreds of men, aided by the most modern equipment”, had killed and dressed several thousands of the Dominion's primes! sheep and lambs. GOOD WATER SUPPLY. Running out three leads, the Masterton brigade, which was later assisted by the Carterton Volunteer Fire Brigade. attacked the fire through the ventilation system and eventually succeeded in cutting it off in the vicinity of the freezing chambers, the pumice and insulated walls c.f which acted as a fire break. Later, two more leads were run out and in all the Masterton brigade had 2,000 feet of hose in act ion. The Carterton Brigade, with eight men in charge of Superintendent R Wakejin. also ran out two deliveries and attacked the fire through the ventilation system and the windows, which quickly blew out under heat pressure. The concentrated efforts of the two brigades, plus the Waingawa Works fire fiehting plant, resulted in over 700 gallons of water a minute being poured into the building for nearly three hours. The Waingawa brigade secured a good pressure of water per medium of a recently installed steam pump, which maintained a supply of 125 gallons a minute.

The block where the fire occurred is a two-story brick building with a concrete floor and a roof of wood and iron. All in the interior fittings were of wood and the huge beams and stays burn', fiercely. It is remarkable that the fire did not spread across a wooden gangway to the tallow department or down

the muttr.ii chute to the yards aii.l other Wooden building:; on the ground floor. The huge wool room on the ground floor was seriously menaced at times and although portions of the wooden walls on the ground floor wore burnt the 200 bales of wool and a large quantity of unbinned wool were only damage by water. The firemen had an arduous task and it is remarkable, in the circumstances, that only one man was carried away overcome by smoke and heat. The Masterton Brigade returned to the station nt 12.7 am. The building and contents were covered by insurance, but no figures are yet obtainable.