86
X
(c) Period of flaming of the film.
At this phase most of the contents of the godown marked in red on Plan No. 1 are afire from the flying celluloid film, All film drums are now lid-less and all the film is burning at a great rato. Nitrate film is highly oxygenated within the molecule, so that the rate of burning would not depend on the "draught", or air supply available.
These conditions give rise to a huge mass of flame which at first shot across the road, and then was carried back (presumably by the wind) against the front of the building. It roared up the narrow chin- ney-like stairs, and also cracked and burnt the French windows onto the verandahs of the flats above, then ran straight through the flats (which have no party walls in this direction), out of the back windows and so through into No. 2 Godown upper floors. The heat in the upper flats is attested to by the melting of glass objects inside the rooms (say 900° Fahr.) and here and there thin brass objects (say 1500°Fahr.) though not the electrical copper wires to any marked extent (therefore below 1900° Fahr.)
It should be emphasized that the high temperature in the up- stairs flats above No. 5 Godown resulted, not from any "oven-like" ef- fect from the flames beneath, but by the passage through them of the in- tensely hot mass of flame itself.
It seems likely that this flame, impinging on the windows of No. 2 Godown, broke them immediately (at any rate such as were not fitted with wired glass) and set alight to all floors of this latter godown almost simultaneously.
This may perhaps be clarified by the diagram on next page.
One edge at least of this mass of flame is clearly observable on the verandah of the top flat of No. 367. On one side of this verandah there has been intense heat, melting glass objects standing there, and on the other side, some wooden objects have hardly been charred.
(a)
Burning of remainder of commodities.
This phase is simple; the rest of the material, and that in No. 2 Godown, was by this time thoroughly fires at all points.
It may here be remarked that the strong construction, and the strong dividing wall, in No. 5 Godown has saved most of the commodities in the right-hand end from destruction.
4.
Contents of No. 5 Godown
I have surveyed the stocks in No. 5 Godown, and in collabor- ation with Insp. Shaw, the Plan "1" was prepared, The following is a list of the complete contents of No. 5 Godown, stack numbers corresponding with those on the plan No. 1. A number of the commodities fall within the Dangerous Goods Ordinance; their categories are appended to the list.
Samples have been taken from stacks of special interest.
STACK COMMODITY,
APPROXIMATE QUANTITY
12
Caustic Soda Aniline Oil
32 drums x 400 lbs.
3
Lp
5
Caustic Soda
Vegetable 011 Caustic Soda
plus)
20 drums x 44 gals. plus) 1 drum x 100 gsls. 825 tins x 4 gals. 18 drums x 300 lbs. 121 drums x 400 lbs.
DANGEROUS GOODS
CATEGORY
SAMPLE NO.
55 6
5
6
4933
155
5