Sleeping children perish in hotel fire

Press, 28 December 1987, Page 1

Sleeping children perish in hotel fire

Special correspondent Auckland “It seemed like for ever,” said a volunteer fireman, Wayne Fawcett, yesterday when recalling his nighttime search hours earlier for three sleeping children in the fiercely burning Taneatua Hotel.

The courage of Mr Fawcett, and a colleague, Mr Les Knowles, was rewarded with the discovery of the children, but the three youngsters died soon after from smoke inhalation. Two of the dead were brothers, Luke Edward Hessey, aged six, and David Richard Hessey, aged four, the only children of the hotel manager, Mr Eddie Hessey, and his wife, Monica. The third child who died was Heath Flutey, aged 10, of Katikati. All three children were sleeping in an upstairs room at the back of the eastern Bay of Plenty hotel when the alarm was raised at 4.30 a.m. yesterday. The nine firemen on volunteer duty in Taneatua, near Whakatane, were at the burning hotel across the road from their fire station in just two minutes. They quickly learned from distressed guests that three children were sleeping inside the building. Mr Fawcett and Mr Knowles, the two firemen most experienced with breathing apparatus, swiftly equipped themselves to enter the building. The pair picked their way through billowing smoke and intense heat to the manager’s lounge and the staircase. Each searched the bedroom by touch for beds, yelling at each other to maintain contact. Mr Fawcett finally found a sleeping child, and handed the boy on to Mr Knowles, who took him to a chain of people waiting to pass them out. The other two children were

soon found and similarly handed out. "We don’t want any glory,” said Mr Fawcett, “we were just doing what we have been trained to do.” Mr Knowles said he agreed with his colleague’s comments. However, the people of Taneatua yesterday were less modest about the bravery of the two firemen. “They are heroes and deserve medals,” said one onlooker. Six hours after they entered the burning building, Mr Fawcett and Mr Knowles went to Whakatane Hospital to be checked for smoke inhalation. Both returned swiftly to the fire scene, Mr Knowles nursing a knee he twisted earlier. Mr Fawcett, the third officer at Taneatua, is deputising for holidaying senior firemen, and was needed to supervise safety at the burned-out shell of the hotel. Yesterday afternoon, he arranged for the facade to be demolished in the interests of safety. The fire gutted the interior of the concrete building, destroying virtually everything between the walls. Firemen from Whakatane, Opotiki and Kawerau also attended, but Mr Fawcett said it had been too fierce to put out. The self-contained fire finally burnt itself out yesterday morning, about six hours after the alarm was raised. Fire safety officers have ruled out arson. They think an electrical fault could have been the cause. Picture, page 3

Sammy, a Bengal tiger, and his fellow tigers were popular with holiday crowds at Orana Park yesterday. The park’s director, Mr Paul

Garland, said it was difficult to get near the tiger enclosure at feeding time yesterday. He estimated that about 300 people were trying to catch a glimpse

of the tigers being fed. Orana Park had a busy day with about 2000 visitors passing through the gates. Photograph by ANNETTE DEW