FIRE FATALITY

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 61, 5 December 1930, Page 12

FIRE FATALITY

Mrs. Watson’s Death CLOSE TO SAFETY City Benevolent Worker Fuller particulars were available yesterday of the manner in which ■ Mrs. Ellen Watson, aged 69, met her death iu the fire which occurred early yesterday morning at the house at 2 Hay Street, Oriental Bay. Although what actually happened in the bouse after the outbreak had been discovered is to some extend , a matter of conjecture, several who were present at the fire consider it strange that Mrs. Watson should not have been able to make her way to safety. Her room was on the top floor of the house, which is of two stories, with a basement,, and the top floor is connected with the lower parts of the building by a back stairway as well as a front one. Mrs! Watson’s room was right at the front of the house, with windows facing Hay Street, and it seems that when she was awakened she went along the passageway and into the bathroom instead of descending the stairway. Thick Smoke. Mrs. Watson occupied another front room immediately below her bedroom on the floor beneath. The other rooms on the floor were used in connection with Miss A. Aubrey’s boardinghouse next door, on the corner of Hay Street and Oriental Bay. It is supposed that the fire had its origin in a central room on the ground floor, above the basement. Under these circumstances the upper floor and both the staircases would be thick with smoke. Mrs. Watson was called from below by other occupants, and she went along the passage to the bathroom. The other occupant of the tqp floor, Mr. Walter Gray, an accountant, of Sydney, went apparently to the bathroom where Mrs. Watson was, and it was from the bathroom window that he made the jump jyhich resulted in the serious injuries which he suffered. Heat and smoke must have been very intense, particularly in the central portion of the house. It is semi-detached from the boarding-house at 4 Hay Street occupied by Mrs. W. M. Toms. The layout of the two houses is almost exactly symmetrical about the central brick wall, and at the top of this thick wall woodencased skylights are centrally situated. The only fire-escape in Mrs. Watson s house is a series of wooden rungs nailed against the side facing Miss Aubreys boarding-house. Heart Failure Possible. Mrs. Watson was discovered dead in the bathroom, with her clothes partly burned. It is possible that she died rather from heart failure than from the fire itself, although the smoke and heat must have had a suffocating effect. Mrs. Watson had lived in the house for about nine years, moving into it with her husband from Hataitai shortly before her husband’s death. She came from Lancashire, England, to Queensland many years ago and married there Mr. George Watson. They came over to New Zealand soon afterward and settled at the Hutt. Mr. Watson was for a considerable period in the employ of the Wellington City Council and was formerly chief sanitary inspector. Mrs. Watson was a benevolent woman who gave practical help to many. She was a member of the Church of England and did a great deal for the City Mission, associated with the Rev. Fielden Taylor in works of charity. Until her health became rather less secure about four years ago she engaged actively in this work. At that time, however, it is understood that she had an illness which left her with , a weak heart. Injured Man’s Condition.

Mr. Gray, who jumped from the bathroom window on the top floor to the yard below, is in a fairly serious condition at the Wellington Hospital. Late last evening his condition was reported to be unchanged. The house in which the fire occurred is insured in the Alliance Office for £l5OO, and Mrs. Watson had a cover of £3OO on the contents which belonged to her. The house next door, occupied by Mrs. Toms, was protected.by the brick wall from damage. It is owned by Mrs. C. Z. A. Mincher, of Pirinoa, Wairarapa, and insured in the Standard Office for £1450.