The Napier Fire.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2482, 21 December 1886, Page 2

The Napier Fire.

THE NARRATIVE OF' AN EYE.

A eentlem&o who arrived; ty jiteapt: - ; yesterday from Napier.. has-fevoreiJ.the. lars of the diwstrous fire rantf out an alarm, and glancing round , saw flames shooting ub frolb the direction of Banner and LiddleV auction room, . The alarm was promptly answered by the membora of the Napier Fira Brigade, ho. were quickly on the apot with their stoamer, two manuals, and all paraphernalia. Hose was quickly run out and the branches turned in the direction of tho flames, but there was no pressure of water, .and the efforts of the Brigade were little nioro than useless. lii addition to the watermains there is a salt water well at the . corner of Tennyson and Hastings-street*, but this fell far short of requirement#. There was some bungling, or whatap- Jj| peared very muoh like it, in the matter : w of turning on the high pressure'./-ThflW J.' was either not sufficient water in the. nj;-"' servoir/ or something else, had " CT® „.., crooked." Messengers were flying about. ' between tho scene ot the fire and the reservoir (on the Bluff),and the pumping.. station (near. Garry's foundry), Dalton* . Btre-etb\it it was not until over half-an* hour after the fire started that anything like an adequate supply of water was procurable. Aud all this while the fit# - fiend-was ratjing with increasing appetite, fanned by the strong breeze blowing. The wind was not blowing'in one partioulw '• <; ■ direction, but seemed to chop about, and partook more of the nature of a whirl- • j wind. For a time everybody seemed thunderstruck at the violence of the hungry flames and the inability of / the Fire Brigade to cope with them. By some blunder the Spit Fire Brigade wa* ' , • not telephoned for, and the fire had assumed tremendous proportions .before they arrived on the scene.. Their presence, however, soon made a difference, and, : going to work with a will, the fire was eventually subdued at about 1 o'clock. Tho Napier Brigade, on finding . . that there was no,water supply, appeatea

to become disorganised at the outset, but when the disadvantages under which thoy labored are considered, and the foatml rapidity with which the fire spread; it A must be admitted that there were tnanyUl extenuating circumstances. Work entirely suspended in and about the (awn, everybody striving with one accord to save what could be'saved. Muoh damagi: was done in places which were not .. actually destroyed by lire, by the rough " : though good-natured efforts of the Balvon.. This was particularly noticeable at the ' thre? newspaper offices, where the crowd revelled in " pie," and at the Churoh of.. England parsonage (occupied by the Rer. - De Berdb Hovell), and the residenoa bf DrCaro. As showing the virulence of -. ' tbefire.it maybe mentioned that the oompositors employed on theTelfljwph ' • had time only to sav'o theinselven, although was got out of the. jobbing-room, which had another exit. : Many persons will be heavy losers ly the fire, but it is not probable that the town will eventually suffer, as the boildipgs destroyed will in most instances te-'rtrv. placed by better ones. ,