Fire guts historic hotel at Henley

Press, 1 September 1982, Page 3

Fire guts historic hotel at Henley

PA Dunedin The historic 112-year-old White House Hotel at Henley. 32km south-west of Dunedin, was gutted by fire early yesterday. Three" occupants of' the hotel battled the blaze with fire extinguishers but could not prevent the fire from spreading. It began about 3.30 a.m. in the public bar of the twostorey building. The owner of the hotel. Mrs Vera Parsons, a barman, Mr Neville Hannah, and a guest, Mr Peter Hobbs, a

truck driver, of Geraldine, were the only persons in the hotel at the "time. Mrs Parsons and Mr Hannah lost all their possession in the blaze but Mr Hobbs was able to remove his luggage and his truck loaded with 550 bales of hay. parked at the rear of the hotel. "I can't believe it's true." said a distraught Mrs Parsons, who has owned the hotel for 12 years. Fire units from Outram. Mosgiel, and Milton were quickly on the scene but could do little

to save the building. Water was pumped to the blaze from the nearby Taieri River, which has many times flooded the hotel over the years. After the last disastrous floods in 1980. Mrs Parsons was back at the hotel within 24 hours of being taken to safety. She said yesterday that she fully intended to have the beer flowing in a shed at the back of the hotel within 48 hours. The Dunedin C. 1.8. is investigating the cause of the fire.