DAMAGE TO HOUSE

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31426, 20 July 1967, Page 12

DAMAGE TO HOUSE

Fire Starts In Basement

A fire which had been burning in the basement of a St. Andrews Hill road home for some time early yesterday morning was discovered after the occupants had risen from their sleep, dressed and were almost on their way out of the house.

Mr and Mrs E. C. Searell, of 46 St. Andrews Hill road, had the kitchen walls, floor and ceiling of their home badly damaged and smoke damage occurred in other parts of the house.

“It must have been burning while we were asleep. Another half an hour and we would have been out of the house and the whole lot could have gone up,” Mr Searell said. The first sign of the fire was smoke belching from a central heating grating set in a partition wall between the hall and the kitchen.

“I then rang the brigade and believe me they got here fast,” he said. “As the smoke was getting worse and worse, Mrs Searell and myself left the house.” After the fire had been extinguished it was found the flames from the basement had burned up through the kitchen walls, burnt a hole in the floor and spread over the ceiling of the kitchen.

Two machines from Woolston and one from Headquarters answered the call which was received at 7.28 a.m. One delivery was used and breathing apparatus was used to enter the basement. An electrical fault In the thermostat of a hot water cylinder of a house at 74 Amyes road resulted in a small fire in a cupboard which caused only minor damage. One machine from Sockburn attended at 10.50 a.m. The property is occupied by Mr Albert Broone.