FATALLY GASSED IN WELL

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28799, 21 January 1959, Page 12

FATALLY GASSED IN WELL

Four Invercargill Men Dead

(New Zealand Press Association)

INVERCARGILL, January 20. Four men died from gas poisoning in a well above a water bore in Queen’s Park this morning. Three were City Council employees and the other a fireman. One of the council men entered the 40ft well to begin removing a pump. The Other two died attempting to rescue him, and the fireman was also fatally gassed when he went down the well to recover

Doctors, police, traffic officers, workmen, and other volunteers battled to revive the men after the bodies had been raised from the well by firemen equipped with respirators. Three of the men are believed to have died instantly. Some hope was held for the fourth, but it was announced after he had been admitted to hospital that he, too, was dead.

The victims were:— Peter Brookland, aged 57, of Makarewa, a semi-skilled labourer employed by the City • i Engitioer’s' Department. He was married, with one child. William Henry Little, aged 48, of 468 Tay street, Invercargill, parks foreman, employed by the reserves department. Married, with one son. John Patu Wilson, aged 36, of 207 Elies road, North Invercargill, a fitter, employed by the City Engineer’s Department, marled. with three children. Thomas Terrence McCambridge, aged 22, single, of 8 Kilgour street, Dunedin, a fireman employed, by the Invercargill Fire Board. The type of gas that caused the men’s deaths had not been determined tonight. Earlier reports that it could be fire damp or methane have not been substantiated. No qualified person is at present prepared to say what the gas could have been. The racting-Govern-ment Analyst at Dunedin (Mr D. F. Nelson) has been called to Invercargill to test the gas. Trouble With Bore

The well had bec.i entered dozens of times in recent months, as the bore was giving trouble, but there had been no suggestion that gas was present, nor has gas ever been found in any of the other waterworks wells. The well consists of concrete pipes 6ft in diameter, sunk to a depth of about 40ft, with smaller pipes below in which the pumps are hung. The well is protected by small building It is understood that* the cover on top of the well was removed yesterday to allow -foul air to escape before work began today. The intention was to begin uncoupling the pumps, as the well is no longer required.

Accompanied by the fitter in charge, Mr R. Rail ton, Mr Brookland went to the well shortly before 9 ajn. today. He -entered the well and began climbing down the vertical ladder. About three-quarters of the way down he was apparently overcome by

the gas, and fell to the platform below. Realising that he could not get Mr. Brookland out single handed, Mr Raiton went for assistance. He drove to the city waterworks little more than half a mile away, and telephoned for the- help of the Invercargill Fire Brigade. While he was away, Mr Wilson and Mr Little entered the well in an attempt to rescue Mr Brookland, and were also overcome by the gas. Both fell down the well on to the lower platform. Fireman Overcome The fire brigade yas on the scene within minutes. Station Officer W. Butler and Foreman McCambridge donned respirators and entered the well. On the way down Fireman McCambridge is believed to have* removed the nose piece of his respirator. He, too, was overcome, and fell on top of the men below. Two more firemen equipped with respirators climbed into the* well, and in the meantime a rope was rigged over a suspension bar across the roof of the building. Working in cramped conditions 40ft down the firemen secured ropes around the bodies. There was no shortage of hands on the rope to haul them up. At the same time a portable compressor was obtained and run up close to the building. A pipe was lowered into the well, and fresh air was forced in with the compressor. A call had gone out for resuscitation equipment, and sets were brought from Kew Public Hospital and from an industrial firm. The medical superintendent at Kew (Dr. H. Hunter) and Dr. A. W. Hogg accompanied the equipment from the hospital, and the police surgeon (Dr. H. R. Gibson) was also on the scene quickly. Resuscitation Attempts As soon as each body was brought to the surface, artificial resuscitation was attempted. Police, traffic officers, cpuncil workmen, and bystanders helped with the work. Firemen worked in pairs in the depths of the well to secure the bodies to the ropes. ' Attempts 'to revive the ; men were carried on until alter 10 a.m., when it was decided to move them to the Kew hospital. Ambulances were standing by, and resuscitation attempts were continued as the men were moved on to the stretchers and into the ambulances.

At this stage some hope was held for Fireman McCambridge, but his death was announced from the hospital just before mid-

into the deaths were opened before Mr F. E. R. Booth, ■LP., this afternoon, and were adjourned sine die after evidence of identification had been given. Orders tor post-mortem examinations were made