Episode 80

On November 18, 1947, a fire tore through Ballantynes department store in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 41 people and changing the nation forever. It remains New Zealand’s deadliest fire disaster — and one that exposed shocking negligence.

In this episode, we retrace the events leading up to the blaze, the chaos of the evacuation, and the devastating aftermath. We’ll look at how overcrowding, building construction, and a lack of fire protection systems turned a busy shopping day into tragedy, and how the disaster forced long-overdue changes to fire safety and labor laws.

Ballantynes wasn’t just a tragedy — it was a turning point. But it also raises a haunting question: why do we keep having to relearn the same lessons, decades later?

Listener discretion is advised.

Background music by Not Notoriously Coordinated 

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Sources:

Staff Told Not To Evacuate: The Ballantynes Fire — Fascinating Horror (YouTube, July 16, 2024). Watch here

A Tragic Series of Events | Ballantynes Fire | A Short Documentary — Retelling (YouTube, October 24, 2021). Watch here