New Zealand Disasters: Ballantyne's Fire (18 November 1947)

The Ballantyne's Department Store’s fire of 18 November 1947, in Christchurch, was the worst fire in New Zealand history, killing 41 people.

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.

More staff left 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.

The store itself was made up of seven smaller buildings linked together, and was four storeys high in some places. Some parts of the building had no access to fire escapes. Around the outside of the building was a veranda which made it difficult for the fire fighters to put up their ladders.

At first the firefighters had only shorter ladders which could not reach the windows on the upper floors. This delayed the attempt to rescue the trapped workers.

The rambling nature of the building meant that once started a fire could travel quickly through the store. There were no fire sprinklers, and the materials used to line parts of the building were wooden match lining and pinex, both very flammable.

A civic funeral service was held in the Anglican Cathedral on 23 November, followed by a mass burial. It was the largest funeral in Christchurch’s history.

Source: Christchurch City Libraries

See also:

• List of victims: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sooty/ballantynes...
• New Zealand On Screen https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/christchurch-fire-1947

The 41 killed:

1. BEALE Margaret Kathleen 25 13 Nayland Street Credit Office
2. BLAIR Caroline Sarah 21 27 Retreat Road, Avonside -
3. BRADBURY Ruth Lillian 26 7 Ashgrove Terrace Credit Office
4. BROWN Edwin Alexander - 17 Elgin Street Credit Office
5. BURR Dorothea Lillian - 122 Colombo Street Office
6. CHALLIS Jane Kinsman 20 71 Chrystall Street Display Dept
7. CHRISTENSEN Nellie Elenora Marie 20 27 Chapel Street Office
8. CODY * Violet May Mrs 30 Taylor Crescent, Spreydon -
9. COLES Shirley Dorne 20 478 Cashel Street Millinery Department
10. DICK Jean Archibald - Hutcheson Street Millinery Department
11. DIVER Molly Patricia 23 33 Randolph Street, Kaiapoi Accounts Department
12. ELWOOD Iris Evelyn 23 81 Barbour Street Millinery Department
13. FERRITER Agnes - 862 Colombo Street Credit Office
14. FORDE Mary Sabina - 75 Montreal Street Credit Office
15. GILLARD Eileen Joyce - 273 Armagh Street Credit Office
16. HAMILTON Clare Aileen - - -
17. HAMILTON Helen Ballantyne - 24 Ayr Street Credit Office
18. HAMPSON Gerald James - - -
19. HAMPSON Marie Elizabeth - 35 Sales Street Credit Office
20. HAYMAN Rosalind - 23 Mayfield Avenue Millinery Department
21. HEPBURN Wilhelmina 39 113 Burke Street In Charge of Millinery Department
22. HUDSON William John - - Secretary of the Company
23. KELLIHER Mary Teresa 20 YWCA Credit Office
24. LAWSON Willard Alan Single 41 Bishop Street Credit Office
25. LLOYD Judith Marie 21 32 Dormer Street Credit Office
26. LOUGH John Harold Welsh 65, 115 Merivale Lane, Accounts Department
27. LOVELL Colin Frederick 24 King Street, Rangiora Credit Office
28. McKIBBIN William Shaw 25 56 Dyers Pass Road Audit Department
29. McLEAN Mary Margaret Mrs - 1 Carden Street Clerical Department
30. NEWTON Emma Earl 57 138 Ollivers Road, Linwood -
31. OSVATH Vilma 32 113 Peverel Street Millinery Department
32. ROGERS Kelvin John - 103 St Albans Street -
33. SERRA Mary Catherine Muriel - 11 Tilford Street Credit Office
34. SMITH Jessie Sewart 19 148 Peverel Street Credit Office
35. STEWART Arthur - - -
36. STEWART Mawson - - -
37. STREET Joyce Frances Elizabeth - 352 Manchester Street Retail College
38. WARD Isobel Ann 23 1 Dover Street Display Dept
39. WEBB Kitty Patricia 15 Western Terrace Millinery Department
40. WERE Bertha Mrs 22 18 Berry Street Credit Office
41. WILBY Myrtle Joy 18 23 Clive Street Credit Office