At 10 minutes to 7 Constable Dunlop, who was on duty in St. Andrew's street, near George street, noticed a smell of burning cloth, and quickly discovered that Penrose's drapery establishment was on fire.
He gave the alarm from the box at the street corner and in two minutes the City Brigade was on the spot. By that time dense volumes of smoke were ascending, and flames had burst through many of the second storey windows, and were leaping up through the roof.
Superintendent Napier says that when he saw the place he believed that the building was doomed, and that nothing but a skeleton would be left.
Thanks, however, to the high pressure of water and smart work by the firemen the building and stock escaped destruction, and was only severely damaged.
The fight was won in a quarter of an hour, but a couple of hours' hard work was necessary before the premises were really safe.
The fire evidently started in a workshop in the second storey.
Constable Dunlop had passed the place 20 minutes before he smelt the fire, and noticed nothing amiss.
Superintendent Napier refers to it as another of these periodical workshop fires for which he cannot account at all.
During the past 2 years Dunedin has had three serious fires originating in workshops of a similar description, and he considers that the matter is one that requires to be carefully examined.
It is worthy of note also that there was no automatic fire alarm installation in the building, a provision which would certainly have given much earlier warning of the outbreak.
Mr Penrose values his stock at about £30,000. The insurances on it are over £20,000, and the building is insured for about £7000.
Exact figures were not ascertainable yesterday, but it is known that while the Alliance Company is the most heavily involved, most of the offices in town are interested to a greater or less extent.
An immediate estimate of the extent of the loss is, of course, largely a matter of conjecture, but the figures mentioned yesterday varied from £8000 to £15,000.
The ceilings and roof, and other parts of the building itself are severely damaged, and it appears safe to say that at least a third of the contents have been ruined either by fire, smoke, or water. - ODT 11.1.1915.
