TWO WOMEN DIE IN FIRE

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25734, 21 February 1949, Page 6

TWO WOMEN DIE IN FIRE

Boarding House Burned Out OTHER OCCUPANTS LOSE POSSESSIONS (P.A.) AUCKLAND, February 20. Two lives were lost when fire burned out the Dunholme boarding house, 186 Rumuera road, to-day. First discovered in the upper storey of the building at 11.45 a.m., the fire gained a complete hold on the old wooden structure within 20 minutes. Eight of the occupants had left the house when the alarm was raised; but two who remained were burned to death. They were:— Miss Jean Murdoch Leslie, aged about 50, part owner of the house.

Miss Carrie Emily Mander. aged about 60, guest in the house. Only the shell of the building remanied after the blaze and the occupants lost practically all their belongings. The cause of the fire is unknown. Immediately the fire was discovered (apparently having originated in the kitchen in the upper floor) one of the occupants, Mr E. J. Kelly, ran to Miss Leslie’s room, which was on the upper floor. She was resting when Mr Kelly entered the room and he warned her of the fire. He told her to leave immediately and said he was going to ring the fire station. Miss Leslie was not seen again, and her body was later found by a window. Victim Removed from Room Strenuous efforts were made rescuing Miss Mander, who was a semi-in-valid living with Miss Leslie on the upper floor. Shortly after the fire started she was seen by Mr E. H. R. Cross as she leaned from her window calling for help. He was. unable to enter the smoke-filled building himself and summoned assistance. Constable Rowe, of Newmarket, accompanied by a fireman, entered the room by a ladder. The men, who were wearing respirators, carried Miss Mander outside. Artificial respiration and carbon dioxide treatment were administered without avail. •

Miss Dorothy Fenton was walking through a passageway in the lower storey of the house when she saw flames at the head of the staircase leading to the upper kitchen. She called to Mr Kelly, who was standing on the lower veranda with his mother, Mrs Bridget Kelly ,and his brother, Mr T. A. Kelly. Mr Kelly went to the upper floor, warned Miss Leslie, and called the Remuera fire station.

Mr and Mrs J. R. McLeod, occupants of another downstairs flat, heard a warning from Miss E. S. MacPherson, aged about 70. Miss MacPherson had attempted to climb the stairway to warn Miss Leslie, but had been restrained by Mr Kelly. Within three minutes of the alarm flames had enveloped half the stairway. When the first brigade from the Remuera station arrived, the front of the building was a mass of flames. Leads were run out to attack this side and, when a machine from Parnell arrived shortly after, a second attack was made from the rear of the house, from which flames were then pouring through windows.

Rapid Spread of Flames So rapid was the spread of the fire that an urgent call for assistance was made to the central fire station, which despatched two machines. With the arrival of these reinforcements eight leads were played into the fire, while another delivery was played on a neighbouring house owned by Mr R. J. Laird. In spite of this attack flames, carried by a fresh breeze, blistered and charred part of this house and occupants were forced by smoke to leave.

Roaring through the boarding house; the fire burst through the slate roof within 20 minutes. The roof rapidly began to disintegrate and, as firemen pushed the attack forward from inside the house, hot roof slates were forced by water jets hight into the air. Falling rafters added ,to the hazards of the firefighters, who were pressing the attack vigorously in the hope that lives could be saved. About 1 p.m., after an hour’s hard battle, the fire gradually came under control. By then only the shell of the former large building remained. With the exception of one room in the lower corner of the house, the entire building was gutted by the outbreak. Immediately it became reasonably safe to conduct a search, police and firemen went into the house. The body of Miss Leslie was found in her room. It was lying two feet from the window, which was only about five feet from the ground at the front, of the house. At this stage all the occupants had not been definitely accounted for; but a complete check through the smouldering rooms revealed no other victims. One of Auckland’s old homes, the house was, until four years ago, a convalescent hospital owned by Miss Leslie and Miss R. F. Dillon. In recent years the owners had used the building as a boarding house. The lower storey was subdivided into flats and the owners. with Miss Mander, lived in the upstairs portion. Miss Dillon is on holiday at Taumarunui. Most of their belongings were lost by occupants of the house. Mr E. J. Kelly’s room was practically undamaged: but this was the only part of the house left intact. His family planned to leave for Suva next month, and they managed to save their trunks and a sewing machine.

A white budgerigar, carried in - a cage, and a few blankets were the only possessions saved by Mr and-Mrs McLeod. Miss MacPherson lost practically everything. , The property owned by Misses Leslie and Dillon included many antiques and a small grand piapo.