37 WOMEN DEAD

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23817, 10 December 1942, Page 4

37 WOMEN DEAD

Fire at Seacliff Mental

Hospital

WING OF BUILDING

DESTROYED

(P.A.) DUNEDIN, December 9. Thirty-seven women patients of the Seacliff Mental Hospital lost their lives last night when lire destroyed a wing attached to the main building. Two patients escaped by a window. The fire spread with such rapidity that it was impossible for the staff and attendants to take rescue measures. All the patients were in the class designated as “disturbed,” meaning that they had no chance of recovery. The wing in which the fire occurred is attached to the main stone building, which was not damaged. It is believed that all the deaths occurred from suffocation. The bodies recovered this morning were unrecognisable.

The origin of the fire is a mystery, as there was steam heating throughout the building, which had no fireplaces. The blaze was discovered by an attendant shortly after 10 o’clock, when flames were emerging from the roof. The institution's own fire brigade had the fire controlled inside an hour, and the staff of attendants worked magnificently to evacuate patients from all parts of the hospital, this being accomplished without panic. This morning revealed a sad picture. Not 50 square feet of the dormitory was standing, and nothing could be seen but a mass of twisted iron bedsteads, roofing iron, charred wood, and other debris.

The Superintendent (Dr. M. Brown) said that the staff put up a magnificent fight in saving the surrounding buildings when the chances seemed 100 to 1 against it. Dr. Brown emphasised that though the hospital was generally understaffed. the staffing of this wing was normal.

The Minister of Health (the Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer) will arrive by air today. and the Director-General of Mental Hospitals (Dr. T. G. Gray) tomorrow.

“The news of the disastrous fire at the SoaclifT Mental Hospital has shocked us all.” said the Minister of Health in Wellington. “Apparently 37 lives have been lost. There will, of course, be a full inquiry into the facts, but in the meantime the sympathy of the people of the Dominion will go out to the relatives of these unfortunate patients.”

FIRE SPREADS SWIFTLY

ADJOINING BUILDINGS THREATENED

STAFF’S WORK PRAISED (P.S.S.) DUNEDIN, December 9. The ward in which the fire occurred housed patients of a more difficult type, and was a wooden building of two storeys. It was about 8!) feet long and Rfi feet wide, and was attached on the northern side to the main brick building. The annexe was very old, and when the fire was discovered it had a good hold. The fire was discovered about 10 o’clock, and the twostorey building had been destroyed before 11 o'clock.

A strong south-west wind almost of gale force was blowing, and this fanned the flames into a blaze which was described by one spectator as terrific. The glow of the fire could be seen by the people of Palmerston, 18 miles away.

The (ire made a clean sweep of the old building. The patients had little, if any. chance of escape once the fire started. They were virtually caught in a death-trap. In two of the rooms windows were either open or could be opened, and this enabled the lives of two of the inmates to be saved. The other windows were closed. The victims, who were of various ages, were very badly burned. Dr, M, Brown, Superintendent of the hospital, said that a male attendant saw flames burst from the building about 10 o'clock, though some 10 minutes before a staff typist had passed the building and had seen no sign of fire. The male attendant who noticed the flames at once set off the alarms which are installed throughout the institution, and a bell was then rung to notify those attendants who live outside the hospital that an emergency had occurred. The hospital buildings are patrolled regularly at intervals of about an hour.

The institution’s fire brigade came into action in a commcndably short time, said Dr. Brown, and the nurses also hurried to the scene. The nurses and attendants at once commenced to evacuate (he patients from (he female wards on the northern end, and they were taken to the nurses’ home and to the recreation hall. The nurses went about their work with steady coolness, and this had a psychological effect on the patients, who went quietly to their new premises. There was, moreover, no panic in any of the other wards.

In the meantime, the brigade, which was aided by a good pressure of water from the hospital's reservoir service, was carrying on a hopeless fight against the flames, and it was quickly realised that it would have to concentrate on a large wooden one-storey ward standing some distance away on the northern side and also on preventing the fire from coming back to the main brick building on the southern side, to which the blazing ward was attached. Walls Badly Scorched

The fire had actually commenced to work back, but the brigade quickly concentrated on (ho blaze here. The brigade made a fine save, and although the wooden walls of the ward on the northern side were badly scorched, the fire did* not obtain a hold.

Steps had, however, been taken before this to remove the inmates. A watch was also kept on other wooden wards further away on the northern side, as sparks were being swept by the gale over the roofs of these adjacent buildings. The cause of the fire is a mystery. There were no fireplaces in the ward, and no electric radiators, the building being steam-healed. The ward was electrically lighted. There were a kitchen and a dining-room in the building. as well as single rooms and a dormitory, but in which spot the fire started cannot be determined. One theory is (hat since there has been an earth movement in the SoaelifT district for many years there may have been a crossing of the wires in the electric lighting installation.

Superintendent P. J. O'Hara and members of the detective force visited the scene of the fire this morning, and in the afternoon an inquest on the bodies was formally opened by Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.

“A MIRACULOUS SAVE”

MINISTER PRAISES STAFF

(P.S.S.) DUNEDIN, December 9. “Indeed, I regard it as nothing short of miraculous that the rest of the building was saved from destruction. Acts of real heroism were performed by some members of the staff." This statement was made by the Minister of Health (the Hon. A. H. Nordmeyer) this evening, after he had inspected the fire damage. The Minister flew from Wellington to-day In visit Seacliff. As the staff had had no sleep during Tuesday night, it was not possible to nh(ain ctalementc nr In rain a clear

The statements would be obtained in the next few days. The coroner would be holding an inquiry into the cause of the deaths and it was possible that a further inquiry might be necessary to establish the cause of the fire, said the Minister. Because of that, it would not be proper for him to comment at (his stage. From the evidence available, it was evident, however, that a splendid job had been done by (he whole staff in evacuating patients from oilier wards and in preventing the spread of the fire.

The Minister said (hat to the medical superintendent (Dr. M. Brown) and to every member of the staff, he desired In pvnrocc Vile wai’m fVvjnUc fr»r llin