Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), Wednesday 31 January 1940, page 3


Heat Causes Film Fire In Strongroom

Storage of films in large quantities was condemned as a breach of City Council ordinances, when the Metropolitan Fire Brigades

Board discussed yesterday a fire which broke out spontaneously among films in the strongroom of a city, building early yesterday morning. Because of its seriousness the public should be informed of the fire and ite cause, said Mr. W. L. Currey. He had inspected the strongroom with Chief Officer W. Younger. The fire might easily have been serious, said Mr. Younger, who was called at 7 a.m. to inspect the strongroom after the fire had been discovered. As it was, the varnish on doors several feet from the strongroom was blistered. Books in the strongroom were dam-| aged but not destroyed. The intensity of the blaze had forced a heap of charred film under the strongroom door. The films had been there for many years, but no one seemed to know of their existence. Excessive heat had set them on fire. 'It is lucky the whole place did not catch alight,' said Mr. Younger. A member of the firm that had custody of the films said yesterday that they were 'The Moth of Moonbi' and 'Greenhide,' two locally-made , films which had formed part of liquidated stock and had been placed in the strongroom for safe keeping. They had been there for more than 10 years, and, as the liquidator had left Brisbane some years ago. the firm did not have authority to dispose of them in any way. Accordingly they had been overlooked. How the fire occurred was a mystery unless the heat had caused spontaneous combustion.