FATALLY BURNED BY OIL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 59, 10 March 1932, Page 10

FATALLY BURNED BY OIL.

FURNACE ATTENDANT. RESULT OP EXPLOSION. A furnace attendant, Mr. William Albert Dempsey, aged 44, who was burned by hot oil yesterday morning on the premises of Grain Products, Ltd., Newton, following internal explosion of a furnace situated at the basement of the building, died in the Auckland Hospital last evening. The furnace, which was of the ordinary oil burner type, was used for heating a steam boiler. It is not known exactly how the accident occurred, but it is assumed that Mr. Dempsey was regulating the furnace when the explosion occurred. A deafening roar was heard, and the only other attendant present, who was some distance away, turned round to see Mr. Dempsey covered in burning oil. Other employees, attracted by the explosion, rushed in, and sacks were thrown over the unfortunate man, while fire extinguishers were used to suppress the streams of burning oil fuel running over the concrete floor. The oil jet, out of which the liquid was pouring, was shut off by workmen. Mr. Dempsey, who remained conscious, was treated by members of the Central Eire Brigade, which had been summoned to suppress the flames, and the St. Ambulance. He lived with his wife and family at 101, Mount Smart Road, Royal Oak.