Ballantyne’s Fire – 1947

The year (1947) of the Ballantyne’s fire, it was regarded as one of the worst disasters Christchurch and New Zealand had faced. This photo of some of the firefighters that day tells the story in itself. The fire started down stairs in the furniture area and quickly spread through the three story department building. As …

The Ballantynes Fire – 18th November 1947

As smoke silently crept up the cellar stairs of Ballantynes, unaware customers continued to sip their drinks in the tearooms and the businesses’ typewriters kept tapping away in the offices on the top floor. Brothers, Roger and Kenneth Ballantyne, were on site keeping an ever watchful eye over the family legacy, theirs since 1872. Ballantynes …