Loss put at £500,000
Demolition of walls probable
Colombo Street roped off

The Press, Nov 19, 1947. p. 7.

A conservative estimate of actual fire damage to buildings and stock was £500,000, the stock alone being valued at more than £300.000. Only the workroom part of the building in Colombo Street was owned by J. Ballantyne and Company Ltd, the rest being leased from the Pratt estate.

Whether the Colombo and Cashel Street frontage of the building will have to be pulled down for safety will be determined this morning. The central part of the three sections in Colombo street had a lean of one foot and a half towards the street last night and the building on Cashel Street also had a pronounced lean.

Colombo Street was roped off and guarded throughout the night and it will remain blocked to traffic until C. S. Luney and Company decide this morning on demolition or strengthening. The anchoring of the frontage into the shell of the building will begin at 7 o'clock and only a detailed inspection will decide whether the lofty walls will have to be pulled down.

The dangerous lean of the Colombo Street frontage was quickly reported within an hour by Cr. J. E. Tait, himself a builder and a stonework expert, to the Clty Engineer (Mr Somers) and later consultations took place with Mr Luney on the plans to be adopted this morning to determine the safety of the building.

The three electrical circuits connected to the Lichfield substation were disconnected when the fire broke out, the blocks affected being Colombo Street from Lichfield to Hereford Streets, King's Lane in Cashel Street to Colombo Street and Anderson's engineering works. After getting the approval of the Fire Brigade the M.E.D. switched on the supply to the blocks at 7.45 pm.