STEAMER AFIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 110, 11 May 1936, Page 7

STEAMER AFIRE.

Heavy Damage to Tasmanian Coastal Ship. MELBOURNE WHARF BLAZE. MELBOURNE, May 10. Damage estimated at between £8000 and £10,000, was caused by a lire on the Tasmanian passenger steamer Taroona (4286 tons), at a river berth at 11 a.m. yesterday. The outbreak, the cause of which is not known, originated in a staircase between the A and B decks, near the smoking room. It spread with amazing rapidity through A deck. The flames destroyed valuable panelling, fittings and furniture in many rooms and cracked all the windows and portholes on A deck. The ship had been undergoing an extensive overhaul in Sydney, whence she had just returned in readiness to resume the Tasmanian service to-day. Two stewards who were using extinguishers on B deck had an alarming experience. They were blown through an open door in the side of the ship by a discharge of compressed smoke and hot air from the confined space below. The force of the explosion threw them from the ship to the wharf. One theory is that the cause of the fire was the fusing of electrical wiring. The Taroona is a new vessel built for the Tasmanian service, and is owned by Tasmanian Steam Ships, Limited, the joint agents being the Union Company and the Huddart-Parker Company. Mr. Gray, local manager of the Union Company, says he does not think any: structural damage was done.

LAUNCH ON FIRE. INJURY TO THREE MEN. SYDNEY, May 10. Three men and a woman had an exciting experience in Botany Bay today. A launch in which they were seated caught fire and the men were seriously burned. The woman jumped into the water. All were rcscued and sent to hospital.