DOUBLE TRAGEDY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 164, 23 April 1928, Page 3

DOUBLE TRAGEDY

BROTHER AND SISTER BURNED. FATAL FIRE AT WAIBIATE. (Per Press Association.) WAIBIATE, This Day. Two lives were lost in a fire which destroyed a six-roomed wooden house on the Waituna Road, about two miles from Waimate, early yesterday morning. The victims were: Francis John O’Brien, single, aged 68. Freda Bertha O’Brien, single, aged 59. A third occupant of the house, Blr Ernest Janies O’Brien, aged 57, had the narrowest of escapes, iiaving barely time to grasp a few articles of clothing and jump through the window of liis bedroom to safety. Except for two chimneys still standing, nothing but cinders and twisted iron remain of the house, which was a well-known landmark in the district, having been erected over 50 years ago. Mr Ernest O’Brien is the youngest of a family of three, two brothers and a sister, who had lived the greater part of their lives in the house together. Blr Francis O’Brien in his early days worked as a bushman, and played a big part in the fighting of the bush fire which devastated the country where lie liyed about 53 years ago. Survivor's Story, Blr Ernest O’Brien said lie retired to bed on Saturday night about 9 o’clock. His brother was fit that time in Waimate, and his sister was sitting up before a fire in the dining room. About 10 o’clock his sister caned “ Good-niglit” to him as she passed his bedroom. About an hour or so*Jat\i; he was awakened by tne sound ofvoices coming from the dining-room. He found that it was his brother and sister talking, and he took no more notice. It was about 6 a.m. yesterday when he next awoke. He was choking and his bedroom was full of smo-ke. He got out of bed at once and rushed to wake liis sister and brother. The way to his brother’s bedroom was barred by a wall of flame. There was also no hope of reaching his sister further along the passage. He shouted to his brother to arouse him, but did not get a reply. Grabbing liis clothing, he then jumped from his bedroom window and rushed round to his sister’s window in front of the house. Shouting to his sister he got the reply, “I’ll be with you in a minute,” but in the next instant liis sister met her death by a flaming wall, which crashed down on her.

“ They are gone, and these clothes that I stand up in are all that is left to me,” was the tragic sentence with which the story concluded. Description By Eye-witness. A neighbour living about a quarter of a mile away, who witnessed the burning of the building, described it as follows: I was awakened shortly after 6 o’clock and saw through the bluegum trees surrounding it the O’Brien’s house on fire. I hurried down. A handful of people quickly gathered but were helpless. The fire had taken the building in its grip and was rapidly eating it up. Due to terrific heat, it was impossible to get within half a chain of the building. The dry old boards burned furiously and it was only a matter of minutes before the ruin was completed. The Remains Found. After three hours of searching among the smouldering debris, the charred remains of the victims were recovered. Of the two bodies, only the trunks were found, the heads and limbs being reduced to ashes. The remains of Miss O’Brien were found under a heap of ashes and bricks beside the fireplace in her bedroom. Those of her brother were recovered from beside his bed. Articles of clothing, including his braces, clung to the body. The origin of the outbreak is not known. Blr Earnest O’Brien stated that the fire in the dining-room had gone out when his sister went to bed. Mr Owen Allen Turner, who saw the fire, stated to the police that it appeared to break out in either the dining-room or the bedroom of Francis O’Brien.