Fire tragedy must not be repeated

People’s Voice, Vol. V, No 12. Auckland, Wednesday, November 26, 1947

Dangerous position laid bare.

New Zealand mourns at the Christchurch fire tragedy in which so many lives were cut off in the disaster at Ballantyne’s drapery store.

To the relatives and friends of the unfortunate people who lost their lives, the People’s Voice extends its deepest sympathies.

It feels, however, that sympathy is inadequate and that it is necessary to take practical and immediate measures to minimise the possibility of such a tragedy happening again. It is five years since the terrible tragedy at the Seacliff Mental Hospital in which many lost their lives. There is no reason, unfortunately for confidence that another such tragedy such as that which occurred at Ballantyne’s might not occur again in some part of New Zealand at any time.

Many death-traps exist.

Enquires and observations made by the People’s Voice reveal that an extremely dangerous position exists in the cities of New Zealand. Many large stores and other buildings are unduly subjected to fire hazard and, in the event of fire breaking out, would be death-traps. The People’s Voice does not desire that there should be undue alarm over the position, but it is obvious that quick action must be taken to minimise fire risks in many important buildings, particularly of the older type.

The danger is particularly acute in older buildings which were not built according to the requirements of modern fire regulations. It would be impracticable to abandon all these buildings, but it is certain that much could be done even in these older buildings to minimise the risk attendant on fire.

Fire escapes lacking.

The absence of fire escapes at Ballantyne’s which was obvious even to people outside of Christchurch, from the newspaper accounts and photographs, is only too common to buildings in Auckland, Wellington, and other cities. Comment was made to the People’s Voice concerning the large establishment in Queen Street, Auckland. It was pointed out that there were no fire-escapes leading from the windows facing Queen Street. A similar position exists elsewhere. In some of these cases it was obvious that lives might be lost on a scale comparable or worse than Ballantyne’s.

While the ultimate solution lies in the building of modern concrete structures without flammable floors and walls and fittings, much could be done by conforming to the regulations regarding fire-sprinklers, by compulsory fire drill and other such measures.

Commission must be effective.

The commission of enquiry which has been promised by Hon. W. Parry will doubtless go thoroughly into the circumstances surrounding the fire at Ballantyne’s, and the People’s Voice does not wish to pre-judge the issue. The whole question of fire hazard, however, is one of acute and immediate importance to the working class and to the public. Commissions of enquiry in the past have been set up on various questions under pressure of disaster or public opinion and their findings have remained a dead letter. This must not happen again. The shop assistants’ unions, the Clerical Workers’ Union, the Storemen and Packers’ Union, and other unions of workers cannot allow this matter to be dealt with in a superficial manner.

These unions, and the Federation of Labour, should be given representation on the commission which is being set up by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon W.Parry.