FIRE IN CITY

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 57, 30 November 1929, Page 12

FIRE IN CITY

HOUSE OF TWENTY-TWO ROOMS DESTROYED NO TIME TO SAVE ANYTHING SOME NARROW ESCAPES A hoarding-house of twentytwo rooms, situated in Abel Smith Street, was almost gutted by fire yesterday afternoon. Practically nothing was saved. Large clouds of brownish-white smoke, about 40 or 50 feet in height, over tlie southern end of Cuba Street at about 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, indicated that a good blaze was in progress. In the wash-house at the back of the Arahiwi Private Hotel, 67 Abel Smith Street, a two-storied wooden building of 22 rooms, Mrs. J.Allen was ironing, when she heard a loud crackling in the kitchen at the rixr of the main building. She went to the door of the outhouse, and before her eyes a board pushed itself outward from the wall, letting out a flood of smoke. , She called to two boarders, Messrs.i Hurley and Griffiths, to come downstairs, and then she dashed around the house and out of the gate. She hailed Mr. G. H. Blanshard, who was passing on his bicycle, and told him that somebody was inside the burning building. He immediately entered the house and climbed the stairs on hands and knees to get beneath the suffocating smoke. But the flames came through from beneath the stairs, and he had to go back the way that he had come. So he left and telephoned the brigade.

Jumped From a Window. Unknown to Mrs. Allen, Mr. Griffiths had left the house, and Mrs. Pine, the occupier, was down the street milking some purchases. Mr. Hurley, who is an elderly, retired man, was sleeping in his room on the upper floor. Mrs. Allen had run to beneath his window, and he, now fully aware Of what had happened, opened the window, his room being filled with smoke. “Jump!” the woman screamed. By this time some plumbers hud arrived. “Wait!” they commanded. “We will get a ladder.” “No! Jump! Jump!” called Mrs. Allen, despite the fact that eighteen feet separated the window from the ground. The men returned carrying a plank. Mr. Hurley leapt from the window, breaking his fall by means of the board. He was taken in a cab to the hospital suffering from shock. Arrival of the Brigade. Immediately the brigade had received the call two engines left the station and a third followed shortly afterwards. When they arrived smoke was pouring through the windows,denoting that the fire had a strong hold on the house. The hoses were soon at work checking the spread of the fire. Meanwhile a large crowd had assembled. A Climb to the Flames. A risky thing was done by a boarder, who climbed up the veranda post, heedless of the calls of the crowd, and reached the balcony. At this stage the fire broke some of the panes of glass in the right upper window of the house, letting out thick clouds of smoke. Across the roofing which joined the bay window to the house, neglectful of the pieces of glass which littered it and their warning, he approached to the window and deliberately broke another pane, telling those below that he “wanted to have a look inside.” He pushed his head through the hole, and then pulled it away quickly. The flames leapt out and caused him to slide down to the spouting, shaking his burning fingers with’which he had held on to the sill. Then he came down to earth once more. - The shouts of those who saw the boarder’s act brought the firemen running round to find out what had happened, but they were not required, as he had already descended. ... After half an hour’s hard fight the brigade g<i the upper hand. The inside of the house, when the blaze had died away, was a mass of charred, blackened walls, stairs and rafters, and was practically gutted. . Mrs. E. M. Pine, the occupier of the building, said that it contained 22 rooms, all of which, were occupied. Of these about 17 were gutted, and the remainder damaged by fire and water, or both. , • After the Blaze. \

The residents gathered in the hall when things were quiet once more, and began talking of their experiences. The first intimation that one of them had was when somebody at the place where he worked remarked: “Look !77, 1 G re brigade is having a good time.” The residents’ mail was singed but not destroyed, and this was delivered. The venturesome boarder came down. He had found that which had inspired his climb undamaged. It was a£s note.

DAY’S BAY FIRE DETAILS OF INSURANCES. The twenty-six-roomed accommodation house and tearooms of Mr. H. Downes at Day’s Bay which was totally destroyed by fire on Thursday afternoon was insured with the Atlas Assurance Company for £3OOO, whilst the contents ■ of the premises _ were insured with the Insurance Office of Australia for £750. Miss Hawthorne’s house next door, also totally destroyed with all contents, was insured for £2000; and the contents were insured for £5OO, with the Royal Office. Mr. A. Knowles’s house, which was badly scorched on the northern side, was insured in the Phoenix Office for £lOOO. The contents of this place were saved. The total of the insurances, therefore, was £7250. Position of Eastbourne. A correspondent, “Onlooker,” writes: “It is high time that the Eastbourne Borough Council obtained a fire engine and pump that would be of service in the case of a fire such as that which occurred at Day’s Bay on Thursday afternoon. It was simply pathetic to see the flames roaring through Bay View House unchecked and to know with positive certainty that the next place L a handsome new residence, must also be sacrificed to the flames. The Eastbourne Borough Council exists for what? There is no high-pressure water, no drainage, often no properly-formed footpaths, no gas, and no proper fire engine capable of dealing with a fire. Almost every fire in the borough is a burn-out. In these days there is statutory provision for 'the setting-up of fire boards, under which the insurance companies pay half the cost of premises and equipment and upkeep. Surely it would not be asking too much of a properly-constituted borough such as Eastbourne to have one decent fire engine, with pump equipment, so that when the fire is reasonably near the edge of the harbour sea "water could be used until such time as there is a proper gravitation water supply. The Hutt brigade certainly did good work at the Day's Bay fire, and had it been on the spot half an hour earlier it would probably have saved Miss Hawthorne’s nlace from destruction.”

POST OFFICE STORE AND RESIDENCE DESTROYED. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Palmerston North, November 27. The Whakarongo general store and Post Office, occupied by Mr. Archer, and an adjoining residence, occupied by Mr,

Sheppard, a farmer, were totally destroyed hr fire this afternoon. All the occunants were away, it being the half-boli-d‘, 'md the outbreak was discovered by n schoolboy at the rear of the shop. Practically nothing was saved, despite the efforts of a bucket brigade. The bmldinc were old, and burned fiercely. The owner is Mr. Vile. Archer is a heavy loser, as none of the stock is insured.