Some Southern Fires

The Canterbury Farmers Co-operative Association Building ablaze. Photographs courtesy South Canterbury Museum.

Excerpt from “THE WAY IT WAS, STORIES FROM NEW ZEALAND”

by Colin Townsend

On Thursday 5th February 1908 at 5.30pm Timaru suffered its biggest fire since half the town was burnt to the ground in December 1868. On fire was the impressive building of the Canterbury Farmers Co-operative Association which had been built in 1900. Sited on Strathallan Street, it was a two storey building stretching down to a single storey on Beswick Street. Damage was estimated to be at least 70,000 pound.

The building contained deep storage cellars and under its single roof were various departments housing floor coverings etc. There were many workrooms for tailors to ply their trade plus offices for the Association. It was at 5.30pm when a dressmaker noticed the drapery room upstairs was filling with thick smoke.

The alarm was given and everybody managed to get out of the building. Some staff managed to roll out an in-house fire hose but they were driven outside by the heat and smoke.

With the fire bell tolling the Fire Brigade was telephoned and several ‘runners’ sent to fetch the brigade. After a few minutes it was obvious that this fire would not be easy to contain even with all the available fire appliances on hand and working. The skylights fell in allowing thick black smoke to rise and advertise to all and sundry that a very large fire was in progress. The dense pungent smoke and heat made it impossible for firemen to attack the fire from within so they did the next best thing. They poured water through the windows near where the fire was.

With the skylights and windows gone the draught caused the fire to burn even more fiercely and it rapidly spread to the hardware department where stored shells and cartridges were. These began to explode as the heat reached them and fear of flying bullets quickly moved back the large crowd of onlookers who had gathered to watch the spectacle.

When the fire reached the grocery department there were more explosions as the heat caused the canned goods to boil and burst. At this time the fire was in the upper storey and below men were rescuing stores through a side door. A rather risky task as the burning floor was to fall through to the storey below.

Next to burn were the numerous offices but not before many records were rescued by loyal clerks. The fall of the roof and ceiling spelt doom to the building but the firemen were able to play water on to the concrete strong room keeping the majority of its contents intact. By 8pm the building had been reduced to just four walls, empty windows and the basement deep with a fierce fire where water was poured until early the following morning.

It was recognised that the firemen and willing helpers worked hard and long. At one point there were a dozen hoses pouring water into the blazing fire. At first the firemen worked from tall ladders at the upper windows staying there until the tops of the ladders started to char. Their faces were roasted with the heat and their clothes soaked with water which caused steam burns. A saving grace was the fact that there was no wind to stir the flames and the vacant spaces at each side of the doomed building. The smoke from the fire could be seen drifting over the Hunters Hills. The gathered crowd was a sight to see. Strathallan Street was packed from the Club Hotel to Cain’s Terrace and Le Cren’s Terrace, both providing excellent viewing platforms.

Comments by Mr. Campbell, Captain of the Fire Brigade included: “We were beaten before we got here. The place was built to burn, open right through with a big stairway for draught and covered with skylights. It was just a great big fireplace. All we did was try to save the strong room and the neighbouring buildings. The water pressure was good and we had many leads working including two belonging to the building. We had all the
available gear on site including Sandietown (Western end of Church Street.) and from the High Street station. The Railway Brigade also turned out with ten men to assist our staff of twenty. When we got there the fire had a full hold of the top storey and we never had a chance of coping with it.”

Some of the firemen were badly cut by broken glass and six remained on duty all night dampening down the last of the fire. These men were kept company by a 2 inch gas pipe which flamed away at somebody’s expense. This was not to be the end of fire for the Canterbury Farmers’ Co-operative association, for on the 8th of April 1909 the Canterbury Farmers was once again burnt out. A blessing with both of these fires was that there was no loss of life.