40 Years Since Broad Small Department Store Fire

Founded in 1890 and moving into their Dee street building in 1903, the Broad Small department store sold everything from nuts and bolts in hardware to fine china in homeware and furnishings and everything in between.

I can remember going there as kids and Mum saying to my brothers and I ‘DON’T Touch’ if you break anything I will have to buy it.

In the early hours of February 3rd 1983 this all ended when crews investigating an alarm activation found a well-involved fire and transmitted K99 at 02.34. In total 9 appliances attended, and 61 firefighters were onsite, including crews from Bluff and Wallacetown making this the most significant call in the Invercargill Brigades history to that date.

Dee Street. Photo: Southland Fire Museum

Water was fed from the hydrants but they had reached capacity and crews were also pumping water from the Otepuni. The fire was now raging within the building, and the focus of the crew was to stop it from spreading to neighbouring buildings.

Dee Street Street View. Photo: Southland Fire Museum

This tactic worked and surrounding buildings only suffered minor damage. However, the Broad Small building was lost, and the company ceased trading on February 11th 1983, ending 93 years of business and servicing the Invercargill community.

Occurrence Book: Call logs and important events were all recorded as a written record. Advances in technology has made this process much easier. Photo: Southland Fire Museum

Many people around the city remember this building with fond hearts, whereas many others would have never heard of it. The damage to the building was so severe it made it unsafe to determine the exact cause of the fire. Once a thriving establishment, the site remained empty for many years until the Invercargill Library was built and opened its doors in July 1989.

Rear of the building viewed from Levin Street. Photo: Southland Fire Museum

A big thank you to the Southland Fire Museum for sharing these photos. If you are in town do pay them a visit and see the fire fighting history from around our region.

Republished by arrangement, Source: Invercargill Fire

The managing director L Gilm of The Southland Times wrote to staff after this fire. Some names from Times past here. Photo: Clive Lind

Southland Times management wrote to staff after this fire. Some names from Times past here. Photo: Clive Lind / oldinvercargill.nz

Below is the full newspaper article from 1983.

Broad Small department store fire. Photo: oldinvercargill.nz

FIRE in February spelt the end for an Invercargill business.
Broad Small Ltd department store on Dee Street was gutted on
February 3.
Broad Small managing director Arthur Broad said he was rung by the Fire Brigade about 2.40am on February 3.
“When I got there I couldn’t do anything. I could see that the place was well alight and truly beyond the firemen’s control. I could see they wouldn’t put it out.”
The fire also damaged the neigh-bouring store of J T Sharp and Sons and there was water damage to Whitcoulls.

Flames leapt metres into the sky at the height of the blaze and smoke billowed over the centre of the city.
From early morning until late afternoon crowds gathered on the street to watch developments.
Two firemen were injured – one had a damaged eye and one burns to his back.
The fire brigade was alerted by a private fire alarm, showing the fire to be in the basement.
“The officer in charge of this appliance went to radio a message back to headquarters and there was a loud bang and the windows broke behind him,” Fire Service area commander John Viner said.

“That led us to think there might have been a smouldering fire which burst into life when some oxygen fanned it.”
Chief fire safety officer Pat Swann said that because of the extent of damage and the instability of the building following the fire it had not been possible to identify the cause.
Its investigations were now closed.
The brigade was in attendance for 69 hours and 8min fighting the blaze and quelling hotspots.
On February 11 the company announced it would not rebuild the store and the 26 staff members had been given notice but J T Sharps decided it would rebuild.