FIRE IN WELLINGTON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 November 1939, Page 7

FIRE IN WELLINGTON

BUILDING PARTLY GUTTED. HARD BATTLE AGAINST FLAMES. (By Telegraph—Press Association J WELLINGTON. This Day. The biggest fire in Wellington since the Victoria Street blaze of eight months ago broke out last night and gutted one side of the engineering and machinery works of J. C. Riddell and Co., Ltd. The building, which is of three floors and of'concrete and brick construction, is situated in Edward Street, a small lane running at right angles to Herbert Sereet, off Manners Street. Forty firemen fought the blaze for nearly two hours before it was quelled. No accurate estimate of the damage could be obtained last night, but it is believed to amount to several thousands of pounds. The cause of the outbreak is not yet known. As the building is in the heart of a closely-settled block of warehouses and manufacturing premises and only a short distance to the rear of Manners Street shops, the fire might have spread with disastrous results. ■ The brigade, however, was on the scene within two minutes of the alarm being given. It was faced from the start with a difficult task, for the fire had obtained a good hold before the alarm, but was aided, on the other hand, by an absence of wind. There was only a light south-westerly breeze.