FAULTY FIRE ESCAPE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 239, 8 October 1932, Page 7

FAULTY FIRE ESCAPE.

HOTEL FATALITY AT THAMES

COMMENT BY CORONER.

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.)

THAMES, Friday.

A verdict of death by misadventure was returned at an inquest concerning the death of Mr. Michael Edward Leydon, aged 54, who fell from a fire escape at the Salutation Hotel, Thames, on September 29, and subsequently died in hospital. Medical evidence gave the cause of death as concussion.

The coroner, Mr. W. Bongard, said the question of the condition of the fire escape entered into the cause of death. He had inspected the fire escape, and it appeared to him that the accident might have happened to anyone even escaping from a fire at the hotel. The fire escape was a death trap, and should not have been in the condition it was. The timber, was very rotten where it joined a stay. With the object of helping to prevent a similar accident in the future, the coroner said he felt justified in adding to his verdict that the . condition and general structure of fire escapes as permitted needed overhauling. If the battens had been nailed on the inside instead of the outside of the stays, and three instead of two used, there would not be any chance of a piece of wood slipping away when a few pounds' pressure was put upon it. Precautions should be taken to prevent, such happenings in future.