Bov dies in blaze

Press, 26 November 1982, Page 1

Bov dies in blaze

PA Gisborne A boy, aged 11, died but his companion escaped after leaping seven metres to safety from a blazing grandstand into the arms of a passing workman in Gisborne early yesterday. . Mr Wilton McFarlane was on his way to the Kaiti freezing works at 3 a.m. when he spotted the smoke from the burning building, heard a cry for help, and broke the fall of Wywin Jones, aged 12, when he jumped from the stand. The body of the other boy was found in front of the grandstand. He was Stephen Cameron, of Gisborne. The boys, runaways from

a welfare home, had been sleeping in the commentary box at the top of the grandstand. Earlier in the evening they had lit a fire at the bottom of the grandstand to cook a meal, said Detective Senior-Sergeant Norman Cook, of the Gisborne C. 1.8. The fire had been left smouldering. The boys were caught on the roof by the fire, he said. Wywin Jones suffered a broken collarbone, and possible back injuries, in his fall. Mr McFarlane, describing the rescue, said, “the kid wanted to jump but I kept telling him to stay there. "The fire was spreading quickly, he was beating his feet on the roof with the

heat, and I told him he had better jump. He needed to be told only once and came straight through the air at me. The impact stunned them both and left the boy injured and semi-uneonscious. Later the boy came to and said there had been another boy on the roof with him. Senior-Sergeant Cook said the police were satisfied the fire was more likely to have been accidental than arson. No other person was thought to be involved and there was no connection between the fire and the breakin and damage earlier in the week at the Gisborne City soccer club’s rooms. The 1000-seat grandstand is on the club’s grounds.