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Story: Fires and fire services

Ballantynes ablaze

Video file

The desperate situation of those fighting the Ballantynes department-store fire is shown in this film of the blaze. By the time the fire brigade arrived, the building was engulfed by flames.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Christchurch Fire. National Film Unit, 1947

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Fires and fire services – Fires in the 1940s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/21874/ballantynes-ablaze (accessed 23 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 10 March 2010.