Bay Harbour: October 20, 2021

Bay Harbour News Wednesday October 20 2021
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12
NEWS
ABLAZE: The Great Fire of 1870 saw five acres of Lyttelton burned to the
ground. https://www.teuaka.org.nz/online-collection/1135481
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Treasures from the
past: Remembering
the Great Fire, 1870
THIS COMING Sunday marks 151 years
since Lyttelton was decimated by fire.
The fire began at about 9pm and was
suspected to have started in packing cases
filled with straw behind the Queen’s Hotel
on the corner of London and Oxford Sts.
It spread very rapidly through the mainly
timber structures of the township.
Valiant local efforts were made to
contain the inferno by the ‘hook and
ladder’ brigade, by prisoners from the gaol
and by seamen organised by the publican
of the Mitre Hotel, who bucketed beer
from barrels in an attempt to protect the
shingled roof.
Eventually, after frantic messages via
the telegraph office, a fire brigade and
fire steam engine arrived by train from
Christchurch, along with the mayor of
and several city councillors.
The sight that greeted The Press reporter,
who also travelled on that train, was just
awful.
“At this time the scene was terrifically
grand, the whole block, some three acres
in area, being one solid mass of fire,
lighting up the harbour and surrounding
hills. The scene on the reclaimed land was
of a most painful character, women and
children being huddled together on heaps
of furniture, utterly homeless, and only
partially clothed.”
The fire was finally contained in the
early hours of the morning, but its consequences
were very evident come daylight:
approximately two thirds (5 acres) of the
township had been razed; 30 local businesses
and many private residences left
with only their chimneys standing.
Though many people had lost their
homes and livelihoods, it was remarkable
there were no serious injuries or deaths.
At the time it was New Zealand’s worst
urban fire, but it would not be the only
time that Lyttelton was badly affected.
Aside from numerous shipboard,
business and residential fires over the
years, a large blaze on Christmas Eve 1942
– beginning in Rhinds store on Norwich
Quay but fanned by a strong wind –
caused significant damage on Norwich
Quay and Canterbury St.
The Great Fire of 1870, as the fire of
October 24 came to be known, was the
catalyst for the establishment of the
Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade in 1873,
members of which have served Lyttelton
through multiple disasters and gained the
highest respect and appreciation by local
residents.
Lyttelton Volunteer Fire Brigade
with early fire engine.