Why was Ballantyne’s an ‘exclusive’ store?
Answer: For rich people
Where was the Ballantyne’s department store
located?
Answer: Christchurch city
When did the Ballantyne’s fire occur?
Answer: November 18th 1947 at 3:46 PM
Why were the upstairs workers not told that there
was a fire?
Answer: Because people down stairs did not tell them cause it did not seem like a problem
How many people died in the fire?
Answer: 41 employees died
What safety changes have been made as a result
of the Ballantyne’s fire?
Answer: We have safety plan. smoke alarms, and sprinklers
1 - 26 persons missing, 34 dead at noon the next day.
2 - the fire started at 4 in the afternoon in the furniture department.
3 - most of the people that died were employees working on the 2nd and 3rd floors right above where the fire started.
4 - Christchurch fire mean , army and air force fire firemen help put out the fire.
In 1947 more than 300 people were employed in the department store of J. Ballantyne & Co, situated on the corner of Colombo Street and Cashel Street in the centre of Christchurch. Most of the upper floors were staff work areas, including the dress-making department, and the credit and accounting department.
At 3:31pm on 18 November, 1947, one of the salesmen employed in the store was told by a woman employee that smoke was coming up the stairs. The smoke was coming from the cellar of Congreve’s Building which was beneath the furnishing department, but there were no flames and no sound of burning. He told the woman to call the fire brigade and tell the owners.
When some minutes later the fire brigade had still not arrived, the salesman began to get concerned. He worked with other members of the staff to place fire extinguishers at the bottom of the stairs.
Upstairs the owners, Kenneth and Roger Ballantyne, had been told about the fire, but there was some uncertainty whether the call to the fire brigade had been made. Another call was made to be certain. This call was received at the fire station at 3:46pm.
About 250 customers and the retail staff on the ground floor were moved outside, but there was no move to clear the upper floors of the staff who had just returned to work after their tea break. By now the flames had broken through to the furnishing department.
At 3:47 pm fire engines arrived. At first the firemen thought it was just a cellar fire. They did not realise that people were trapped on the upper floors of the building. The fire brigade at the time was understaffed, and the two most senior officers were not on duty. The decision was made not to bring a turntable ladder to the scene of the fire as a cellar fire was not usually regarded as serious.
the building just as the centre of the department store exploded in flames, blowing out two large windows.
This was the first sign from outside the shop that something was happening, but within minutes the building was aflame.
The fire officer in charge soon realised the severity of the fire and sent a fireman to make a brigade call that would bring out all the fire appliances in Christchurch, but the call was delayed by overloaded telephone lines. In the meantime it took a further 10 minutes for the firefighters to find the source of the fire.
Some heads of departments made the decision themselves to evacuate their staff from the upper floors of the building.
In the credit department the office workers waited to shut up the office equipment, then tried to leave by the fire escape, but could not use it because of the smoke and heat. The group moved to another area but were driven back by the smoke. Two women decided to try the fire escape again, but could not get to it because the roof of the office began to fall in. The women climbed out the window and jumped, landing on a first-floor veranda. From there they were rescued by firemen. The women who had stayed in the office died in the fire. Another woman jumped from a third floor window, hitting the veranda and then landing on the road. She died soon after from her injuries.
The staff in the dress-making section on the second floor escaped after taking the stairs and leaving the building just as the upper parts of the store began to collapse.
The eight women in the millinery department had delayed leaving, not realising the danger. Only the supervisor and one of the department staff made it safely to the fire escape and down. The other seven died after they collapsed from smoke inhalation.
Outside the firemen struggled to fight the flames in vain. They were able to rescue Kenneth Ballantyne when he broke a window and climbed out onto the parapet of the building. Hoses were used to wet him down until ladders could be moved into position. Just as he reached ground, power lines burned out and sheets of blue flame swept along the face of the store. His was the last rescue.
By now over 200 firefighters using 20 appliances were fighting the blaze, but they were unable to make any headway against the fire.
By 6:00pm firemen, policemen and volunteers were able to begin the search for bodies lying in the charred ruins. The fires finally burnt out completely by 8:00pm.
The last bodies were not carried out of the building until 21 November. 41 people had died in the blaze.
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