DISASTROUS FIRE AT TE AWAMUTU. TEN BUILDINGS DESTROYED.— £6000 DAMAGES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1981, 19 March 1885, Page 2

DISASTROUS FIRE AT TE AWAMUTU. TEN BUILDINGS DESTROYED.— £6000 DAMAGES.

[B\ naWJKUMI.— OWN COKHKSI'ONDENT.] TkAwvmlti', Wodnehday A disvhtkoljs tiro occuired.it To Aw "mitn this morning between 1 an'l 2 o'clock. No li»ss tli.ui ton buildings vvrre burned down. The value of the property destroyed is estimated .it between £5000 ,md £6000. Mr Ford s tailor's shoo, Mr Dealley's tailor* shop, Mr Sloane's chemist shop, Mr'Levsit' il<;te), Mi Btidgmau nntoiuHiitJ all thti buildings in thut block wereburueddown. This w tho mostdosastrous lire that h«w occurred in Waik.it) >. Tho hre started m Ford's tailor's shop, and was confined there suffi ctently long to en.iblo Mr Sloane to rescue a good many of his effects. Tho greater portion of his clothing and bedding was saved, and some of his utoek. When it was discovered that the hotel could not be Kived, those present turned their attention to saving tho stock and furniturvj, and thu f.iunly and lodgors wore got out as quickly us possible. Unfortunately the billurdtable, which was a most expensive imo, could not be removed in tune, .tnd, with h large portion of the stock and furniture, was destroyed m the flame*. Meantime the southerly wind, winch fortunately was not strong, blew the sparks on to the ioof of Mr iindgmau'b store, and ignited it in several place*. Willing hands lent as-sist auce, and in » short time had three or four hundied pound*' worth of drapery removed to a place of safety. But the timber being so dry the building burned very rapid.y, oiily an hour and » quarter elapsing iroin the time the tiro was discovered until the whole block was burned out. The sparks were blown on to the roofs of (Jlass' biker's shop, and Rogers' blacksmiths shop, and set the shingle* on fire, but they were soon extinguished. There was plenty of water in the hotel tank-, and a pnmp, but the he.it was ho herce that the men were driven away. Some persons got on tho roof of the hotel, but it was on hre in a hundred places at one time. The shingles were like tinder, and caught wherever the sparks fell on them. Had the wind Wen stronger Ronnie and CoV. store would h.ivo lieen burned a-lso, but wet blankets and plenty of water kept the shingles from igniting. Twelve tall chimneys standing alone anr the ruins preseted a vuerd spectacle. The tallest of thes", howevei, wero at once knocked down, to prevent accidents. Tho greate-t drawback was the want of ladders of iiithcittnt length to get on the roofs of the hotel and stores. A pa-is.igo wa-^ ni.uh 1 from the iu<>id»s on to the ioof of the foimer, but nothing could bo done, as the constant showei of sparks soon had the valley between the roof in flames. Tho oiigm of the hre ih unknown. When first seen it appeared to be between the weatherboards and lining of Ford's Miop, but how it got tlieie is k mystery. It soon made » clean sweep of the whole of this large block of buildings. The following aie the insurances .- Lewis" hotel, stock and furniture, New Zealand, fWX), South British, £ ">00 ; Victon.i, i'.VJO; Sloane's shop, Ford's and Dcallev s tailm's shops (owned bv Mr Lewis), Colonial, £100, Now Zealand, £&">0; Jindgman's stock, New Zealand, W, South British, £800; Sloane's stock, New Zealand, t'HOO; Ford's stock, Colonial, £7."i; Huntei's stock, South British, £100; Holud'n' suivovor's nistruinonts, Colonial. £l."» 0; the latter, how us or, were all saved. Die following an* tlu> buildings dt'stroyod : Deallej's shop, Foul's shop, Sloanc's shop an<l dwelling, Jjt'wis hotel, lindgm.in's store, Hunter's saddh-r's shop, Holmes' PublicWorks t)ttic*-, Gibsons butchers shop, Bndgman's bakehouse and btable. The total amount of insurances is £3b"7">. Mr Lewis estimates his loss at t'l,."»00 ovtr his insurance. Mr Bndgman's stock was worth £2000. Mr Ford'b los« is £100 a!»>ve hm insurance, (treat sympathy is felt for Mr Lewis and others who have lost so heavily. Mr (iibson lost «i valuable saiisago n.uchme, which unfortunately was not insured. Most of Mr Hunter's stock was saved. When tho hro was discovered in force it w.is too late to do anything towards saving the place, for in u few seconds (after it was seen, the whole of tho inside j was wrapped in ttames. Mr >L It. Rocho I to whom the store, saddler's shop, Holmes' i office, and butcher's shop, belonged, had £4W insurance in the South British on i these buildings. In a shoit tune the reflection of the hre attracted a large crowd from 1 Ktlukthi and other pi ices. Some idea of tho magnitude of thu hn\ may be gathered from tho fact that Kihikihi was brightly illuminated. Even had the roof of_ the hotel been iron instead of shingles, it is doubtful if it would have been havod as the tongues of flnrao from SWne's reached th* we«ther boards.