WELLINGTON FIRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 March 1939, Page 7

WELLINGTON FIRE

* EXTENT OF DAMAGE REVEALED. HEAVY LOSSES THROUGH PILFERING. (Bv Telegraph—Tress Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The great extent of the havoc wrought by Tuesday night’s fire in the centre of the city of Wellington was revealed in the daylight yesterday, anc as a result it can be said to have confirmed the preliminary estimate of the total damage at more than £lOO 090.

At the seat of the outbreak in Victoria House, Victoria Street, all that remains is the shell of the gutted building, warped girders, and charred debris. The duty of deciding whether such a building shall be demolished rests with the city engineer’s department, and yesterday the city engineer, Mr K. E. Luke, and his officers made a preliminary inspection. The top floor and the rear portions lis Street were also gutted. The city engineer’s department estimated that up till noon yesterday approximately 2.000,000 gallons of water had been used in suppressing the fire. Severe damage to stock was caused by water in the shops on the eastern side of Willis Street, and the shopkeepers were busily engaged throughout the day in salvage work. It was also reported that the pilfering which occurred when stock' was being removed during the fire was more widespread than at first realised. Some of the shops reported considerable losses.