FIRE ON FERRY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 273, 17 November 1936, Page 7

FIRE ON FERRY.

FIVE MEN TRAPPED. Manly Steamer Burned to Water's Edge. ONE WORKMAN DEAD. United Press Association. —Copyright. SYDNEY, November l(i. Five workmen were trapped this afternoon in a fierce fire which practically destroyed one of the Manly ferry boats, the Bellubera, at the company's private wharf at Neutral Bay. All were . rescued alive after desperate and courageous efforts by the firemen, but one man died on the way to hospital. The Bellubera had just been thoroughly reconditioned and converted from steam to an oil-burner. The men were in the engine-room, which suddenly burst into flame. The fire barred their exit. One man shouted the alarm through a porthole. Fire brigades poured tons of water on the flames, and finally cut a large hole in the side of the vessel with oxvacetylene blowpipes. Through this hole two firemen, wearing asbestos suits, entered the ship and carried the workmen through the dense smoke and fumes to the wharf. The large crowd which gathered wondered how it' was "possible that the men could be alive. The boat was burned to the water's edge, and the damage is estimated at £50,000.