LAUNCH ON FIRE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 256, 16 August 1950, Page 3

LAUNCH ON FIRE

OCCUPANT SWIMS TO SHORE (P.A.) BLENHEIM, Aug. 15. The owner of the fishing launch Twilight, Harry Francis Cantwell, of Blenheim, had to don life-jackets and swim half a mile to shore in icy-cold water when his boat caught fire in Cloudy Bay to-day. The sole occupant of the 42ft launch, Mr Cantwell, who had been fishing, was about to prepare a midday meal on a fuel stove when he noticed that, his engine was missing its beats. He went to investigate and found himself enveloped in smoke so dense that he could not reach the fire-extinguisher. For some time he fought the fire with buckets of sea water and sacks, but he could see he was fighting a losing battle. With a boathook he managed to get two lifejackets from near his bunk and then took to the water. He is not a good swimmer, and it took him more than half an hour to reach the shore. “It seemed like half a day,’’ he said. A Dakota freighter circled the burning launch,* and this attracted the attention of a motorist near the shore, who helped Mr Cantwell ashore and brought him to Blenheim, where he was treated for minor burns and exhaustion. This evening the launch was still burning and drifting near the Wairau bar.