Christchurch Fire

The lovely man who married my Grandma in later life (2nd marriage for them both), had lost his younger daughter in this fire. The national and city tragedy became personal when we knew him in our family.

I was just over 6 years old at the time & lived in Riccarton.
I can recall large amounts of documents, some part burned, being blown down our street from the fire.
My 2 sisters & I wondered where they could be coming from.
My parents took us 3 children to the memorial service for those who lost their lives in the fire.
Years later I met a woman who was working at Ballantynes at the time & she told me that hot water was coming out of the cold taps before the fire. I was an electrician at the time & think it may have been an electrical earth fault that caused the fire. I don't recall what the official cause of the fire was.