PETROL FIRE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19815, 31 December 1929, Page 5

PETROL FIRE.

SMALL BOY BADLY BURNED

Serious burns to the hands, legs, and face were received by Joe Harding, six years of age, who lives at 36 Fitzgerald avenue, soon after noon yesterday. He had been enjoying a ride on a motor-lorry, which stopped at the corner of Ferry road and Fitzgerald avenue to take in some petrol from a bowser, the driver looking on at the operation. The boy, who had been fiddling with a box of matches, suddenly struck one and flung it on the ground. A sheet of flame instantly swept up, and the heat was intense enough to scorch the boy's hands and legs, the driver also receiving a number of burns.

The actual fire soon died away, so that the Central Fire Brigade had little to do when they arrived, being able, however, to render first aid to the driver, who went home shortly after. The little boy was taken to the Christchurch Hospital, where his condition last night was stated to be serious, but not bad enough to cause anxiety. The lorry, a Leyland, belonged to Harding Bros., Ltd., cartage and shingle contractors, of Fitzgerald avenue, and it was undamaged.