Seven flee Okains fire

Press, 31 May 1980, Page 6

Seven flee Okains fire

Seven young people were lucky to escape when the Okains Bay house in which they were living was destroyed by fire in. the early hours of vesterday morning. The Akaroa Volunteer Fire Brigade was called at 4.12 a.m. but by' the time firemen arrived 20 minutes later the house was well alight. The fire was believed to have been caused by an electrical fault in the ceiling of the wooden building, said Mr T. E. McNabb,- the , brigade’s district commander, “If the fire had started on the ground floor some of the occupants might have been killed,” he said. The house was occupied by members of the People of the Land Trust. The group is one of several run by the trust for the young unemployed in North Canterbury. The young people in the group work under contract for farmers on Banks Peninsula and ! local bodies in the area. One of the young men saw the glare of the blaze on the lawn and thought it: was a fire up - the road, according to Mr McNabb. When he realised where the fire was he quickly awoke the three

girls tipstairs and all seven managed to . escape. “They had to leave the building clad only in their sleeping attire’,” Mr McNabb said; The girls were in the room next to where the fire started.

“The Vicar (Mr Robert McLay) and Mrs McLay looked after everyone with plenty of blankets and coffee,” Mr McNabb said.

By last evening three big cartons of clothes had been collected in Akaroa for the jrnung people, who lost l all their belongings in the fire. Money that pupils at the area school collected from

their annual mufti day was also given to the fire victims. So were proceeds from a special collection organised by the children. ; The house .and many of the items inside .- were, insured, but hot'a deep-frCeze, which the occupants had just paid off, and many of. their work tools, including a power saw. All seven members of the group have now moved back to Christchurch. “Our main task is to find them alternative accommodation; in the district so that they can continue with their work,” said Ms J. Steincamp; publicity officer for the trust.