Story: Fires and fire services

Coffins stretch into the distance at the funeral for victims of the 1947 Ballantynes department store fire, at Ruru lawn cemetery, Christchurch. Forty-one people, including many young female employees, died in the fire. A royal commission of inquiry found fault with the way store management and the local fire brigade had responded to the emergency. It recommended changes, including the establishment of a national fire service. This goal was not achieved until 1975.