A FATAL FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 630, 6 October 1909, Page 7

A FATAL FIRE.

. . •■■ -»--TT--r; f .;.. v .: ■'■;' V A * FEILDING. '; - ■ CHIMNEY FALLS v ON-.-FIREMAN,-; ; : IHy Volocrnpb.-Sbecliir <Wrc»tmndiWi ; : Fellding, .October::i:r- , Between UO and 2 o'clock' this: morning one pf ; -the...'inmates of Hastie'3 "Hotel ■discovered flames issuing through ■ tho walls of No. 22 bedroom, on tho first.floor, The bers of tho firo brigade, under. Superintendent isoywell, wero soon on the soene, but-the fire was. an extremely, difficult one to deal with, J. he room whore it started is almost in the centre pf tho building, and from there itSpread fore and aft. • Whilst it seemed to bo dying.down m the centre, it burst out with savage, vigour in this ■ tower,' faring", 'the post office, and at tho_ rear, Over thesjtables. Although tho brigade had plenty of hose and a splendid pressure of water, they could hot prevent tho firo from spreading over the whole of the upstairs portion of the fine building. 1 hey .wero successful, however, in confining it to'the first ■floor,-and, after a couple'of hours hard figbtiiig, -the flames were subdued. ,::,'. . . j;-; The insurances onthe'building werei—,£3ooo in: the_ Commercial Union and X3OOO in the Queensland office. On the stock and furni•hire there was an insurance of • .£2BOO in the Commercial Union. '-.-•■■ _The building was erected by Mr.' V. 7ffi T t nbout ''Pf, ycMB a F°( ond cost over ASOOO. It was rightly regarded as ono- of the most imposing of our town buildings,-and itsloss is a great one to Feilding. The predecessor, of the hotel as an old wooden building.'' which-was destroyed by firo. on July 18, 1005* Un that occasion, Miss Nellie Curtayno a housemaid, was burnt to death. ' ' Atragic-interest attaohes to the fire, in that it caused .the .death of Fireman Douglas JI V endeayourine to get do» to the scat of-the fire, a lead of hoso-was taken upstairs, and Fireman Williamson -held the t£?h a Ho-was standing on the, landing at tho head oi tha stairs, with several other fireQ a u,. p \ a ft m § O" ,»>o fire'.right above his head. Mr. Alfred Eade, who is a lifo-inenibcr fwfJJ tho t . dtt J!P»- Ho had ascend tfl the stairs and saw tho firemen standing on the fifc' 11 ? b »ra«W,ceiling-right-.abow their heads. Ho warned them-that they were in a dangerous position, and begged them to leave. A couple of, tho firemen were: ordered ?^J a another part of tho building, and left Fireman Williamson .with the nozzle. Superintendent Say well had just left him, and was descending the stairs, when crash came a quantity of bricks and dobris'through the oeiling. "It fell right on tho unfortunate man, Eaid Mr. Bade, "completely burying j- .Superintendent Saywell and others immediately came to the rescue, and we got him out. He was dead, I believe, then. 9 ' At the-meeting of the'Chambor of Commerce this morning, Mr. W. F. Bramwell (president) proposed, h vote of sincere sympathy with the relatives of the"deceased fireman. Ho said Mr. Williamson, was a young business man who had spent practically all his lifo here, and the consolation for ; his relatives wos that ho died doing his duty as a fireman trying to save property in the town. The motion was sec-, onded by Mr. M. Jones, and was carried in silenoc.

Tho secretary of the brigado (Mr. H. R, Fitzgerald) has received telegrams of sympathy on account of tho death of a .brotLr"fir7man from all parts of th« Dominion; Mr. Hubo Inspector of Fire Brigades, being ono of "the nwt to send his sympathy. , . ' The inquest, on the late Fireman William.' 2? ff 4 tW , B Mternoon; before Mr.'-IJdmund Goodbehere and a ury of six. The «wffi of Alfred Eade (fireman) and Geo. SavweM (superintendent of .the,. brigade) ™a S Sen after, whioh, on the application of tho polio? the inquiry was adjourned until next™ u *: