HEROISM OF NUNS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 166, 27 April 1935, Page 3

HEROISM OF NUNS.

LIVES RISKEp IN FIRE. A few minutes after 100 children had left the evening service in St. Vincent's Chapel, Mill Hill, London, recently, and while many Sisters of Charity were still present, fire broke out in the roof. Risking their lives amid tli3 burning debris falling from

the roof, the sisters made repeated journeys into the chapel to remove the sacred vessels and valuable statues. Boys from Mill School helped them. They were unable to lift a marble statue of Our Lady, valued at £2OO, but, although the roof 101 l in, neither the'statue nor the altar was damaged. The sisters heard crackling and then saw flames coming from the chapel roof. The fire spread rapidly Flames leapt high above the chapel and the blaze could be seen for miles. Three fire engines attended from the Hendon and Mill Hill stations.

Firemen took grave risks while working on the chapel roof, 50 feet above the ground, in an effort to prevent the flames from spreading to the convent. Portions of the roof threatened to fall and part 3 of it were hacked, away to prevent the fire from extending its hold. The flames crept along the Avood and rafters beneath the slates, so that

the firemen were sometimes unaware of the exact seat of the fire. As one of them stated: "We had to take a chance that the fire was in front and not behind." The firemen were hampered considerably by low water pressure, since the chapel occupies one of the highest sites in North London. The chapel, which was built about 15 years ago, is attached to St. Vincent's Convent, the headquarters in England of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. It is on the site of what was once the home of Nell Gwynne and Charles 11.