The Ballantynes fire
- When
- 18 November 1947
- Where
- Christchurch · Ōtautahi
- Reach
- Local
Forty-one staff died in a department store fire in central Christchurch, most of them trapped on the upper floors.
The fire started in a basement storeroom and spread through a warren of connected old buildings with no sprinklers and inadequate exits. Staff were reportedly told to keep working while the fire took hold. It remains New Zealand’s worst fire disaster, and the royal commission that followed drove a rewrite of fire safety rules for commercial buildings.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
The influenza pandemic
About 9,000 people died in two months — roughly half as many as died in four years of war. Māori died at more than seven times the Pākehā rate.
The Erebus disaster
An Air New Zealand sightseeing flight to Antarctica flew into Mount Erebus in whiteout conditions. All 257 people aboard died.
Departed Auckland AirportThe Tangiwai railway disaster
A lahar from Mount Ruapehu swept away the rail bridge over the Whangaehu River minutes before the Wellington–Auckland express reached it, killing 151 people.
TangiwaiThe Hawke’s Bay earthquake
A magnitude 7.8 quake levelled Napier and Hastings and killed 256 people — still New Zealand’s deadliest natural disaster.
Napier