WOMEN'S ESCAPE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 173, 24 July 1934, Page 3

WOMEN'S ESCAPE.

BEDROOM IN FLAMES. , 1 XO WATER TO FIGHT FIRE. \ 1 Two women sleeping in the front room «; of a house in Dundale Road, Avondale ( South, had to make a hasty escape when . they awoke to find flames licking | through the walls of their bedroom about c 10.30 last night. The house, owned and s occupied by Mr. J. W. Smith, a poultry { farmer, was destroyed. r The outbreak apparently started 1 in the kitchen, where a fire was j left burning in the range when Mrs. ,i Smith and her sister-in-law, Miss K. t Smith, retired early in the even- ] ing, after Mr. Smith had left to t attend the wrestling match in the Town '] Hall. About 10.30 Mrs. Smith was J awakened by her sister-in-law, to find a the bedroom filled with smoke and flames f bursting through the walls. The women a had no" time to pick up any clothing. r They escaped through the front door in t their night attire. As she made for the r doorway Miss Smith remembered to pick t up a sick Pekinese dog which was sleep- t ing in the bedroom. h After some delay, owing to the fact that there is only one private telephone ? in the neighbourhood and the occupants k of that house were away, the alarm given, and the Avondale and Point Chevalier brigades arrived. Once on the scene the firemen could do little to save d the house, there being no water main c to which the hoses could be coupled. By connecting a one-inch hose with a water pipe the brigades were able to save part of the waslihouse and storeroom. a When Mr. Smith arrived home the o house was almost burned to the ground. B Nothing was saved from the house, * although Mrs. Smith managed to drag several heavy sacks of pollard from the y feed room. Among the contents p destroyed were a new wireless set and a piano, the insurance on which was p recently reduced from £140 to £-50. »' Mr. Smith said to-day that lie was a g( heavy loser. Ho mentioned that he had n taken over the property only four o months ago and that last night was Z the first time he had been away at night. Ho also mentioned that the fire marked his first wedding anniversary. The house, a four-roomed one, was insured for £300 in the phoenix office and the contents for £150 with the New Zealand Insurance Co.