Photo of firefighters battling a blaze at the Ballantynes Department Store. Photo / Christchurch Star Archive
Photo of firefighters battling a blaze at the Ballantynes Department Store. Photo / Christchurch Star Archive
The city of Christchurch will gather together on Friday to remember one of the nation’s worst tragedies, a fire at a local department shop that claimed the lives of 41 people.
Friday will mark 75 years since the incident, which occurred on a Tuesday afternoon in 1947 after smoke was discovered in the basement of a furniture department store.
The sprawling store had seven linked buildings, where up to 300 people were shopping and more than 450 people worked, at the time of the fire.
The Ballantynes fire of 18 November 1947 was, until the 2011 earthquake, Christchurch's biggest disaster. Photo / NZ On Screen
While most employees got out of the store, there was a delay before a number of office workers, dressmakers and hat makers were told to leave the upper floors of the building.
With no evacuation plan and no fire drills historically run, all but a few people were trapped in the blaze.
Some of the women in the store were ordered by supervisors to stay put.
It was a while before the fire brigade was called, so the fire was well-involved by the time fire units arrived, and the officer in charge was inexperienced. All firefighters were able to do was stop the flames from spreading.
One witness, Alf Brown said he whistled to get the attention of his father - who was in the building - but was unsuccessful.
At a roll call in the evening at the city’s King Edward Barracks to work out who was still missing, Brown saw a Ballantynes manager.
One witness, Alf Brown said he whistled to get the attention of his father - who was in the building - but was unsuccessful. Photo / Christchurch Star Archive.
“He pointed at me and said ‘That’s Alec Brown’s son’. That’s when I knew that Dad was dead.”
Navy volunteer John Goldsworthy recalled young women at windows, who disappeared as smoke came over their heads and the floor collapsed.
“They all screamed at once, then dead silence, just cut off as they went into the flames obviously. That was the hardest part to think of - to see them disappear ... [and] realise where they were going.”
Firefighter Bob Ludbrook told the Star at the 60th anniversary in 2007 of the grisly scene that confronted him when he was sent home at 8.20pm.
“I walked around the front of Ballantynes to the front doors. There were skeletons just piled up there in the doorway that had been found in the fire. It was awful to see.”
Thirty-nine staff and two auditors who had been working in the building were killed in the blaze, making it, until the 2011 earthquake, Christchurch’s biggest disaster. A Commission of Inquiry found that while the fire was an accident, the tragedy provided many key learnings.
This included the understanding that a quick response was critical in helping to avoid loss of life.
Christchurch will remember the incident at the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral on Friday.
Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s Glenis Philip-Barbara said the fire represented “immense loss” to the Christchurch community.
While the recommendation from the Commission of Inquiry to set up a National Fire Service wasn’t implemented until 1976, Philip-Barbara said the Ballantynes fire led to significant changes to the way public buildings in Aotearoa safeguard staff and customers.
It also led to the administration of the fire brigade.
“It is crucial we continue to remember events like the Ballantynes fire, although they are painful, so that we can learn from history and ensure they are not repeated. The fact that the Ballantynes fire remains our worst loss of life from fire proves the enduring legacy of this tragedy.”
The memorial will be held at 5.30pm on Friday, November 18 at 234 Hereford St in Christchurch.
