CO129-614-1 Commission of Inquiry into fire at West Point- report 26-5-1949 - 22-12-1949 — Page 28

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CHATTER III

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THE WING ON TREMISES AT WEST POINT.

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Description of the Godown Area:

GO-

17. The Wing On Company possesses three building at West Point.

down No. 1 faces the seafront on Connaught Road WEST and is a narrow

building of four stories. This building was not involved in the fire.

Across Whitty Street, also facing the seafront, is a large building con-

sisting of five floors, and this is officially described as the Wing On

Godowns Nos. 2, 3 and 4. It is not partitioned vertically inside, and

is generally described as the Wing On Godown No. 2, by which it will be

described throughout the report. At the rear of this godown, and scp-

arated from it by a six-foot wide scavenging lanc, is a building fronting

Des Voeux Road WEST. The ground floor of this building was used as go-

downs which are officially described as the Wing On Godowns Nos. 5, 6

and 7. It is generally referred to as Godown No. 5 and this terminology

is adopted in the report. Above the godown No. 5 are four floors of

tenement flats. On the western side of the godowns separated from them

by a lune are two blocks of offices with godowns beneath then, belonging

to the Royal Inter Ocean Lines. The southern end of this scavenging

lane, that is to say the Des Voeux Road end, was bricked up and roofed

over during the war, in fact becoming an extension of the Inter Ocean

Lines Godown. There is a wall across the Des Voeux Road end of Whitty

Street, also constructed during the occupation, the effect of which is

to deny ready access by foot passengers and still more so by vehicles

to the seafront, except by a long circuit round neighbouring streets.

Reference to Flan A will make clear the lay out of the buildings and

their relationship to roads in the West Point area,

Description of Godown No. 2.

18.

The Godown No. 2 was constructed in 1926. It is a very substantial

structure of brick and concrete construction 88 feet long, 36 feet wide

and 80 feet high, with a capacity of about 750,000 cubic feet. It has

concrete floors, two interior flights of open stone stairs, and an un-

enclosed lift shaft situated towards the front. There is a cockloft

on the ground floor adjacent to the lift shaft, which served as an office