RESIDENCE GUTTED

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 254, 23 July 1936, Page 13

RESIDENCE GUTTED

Spectacular Blaze at Roseneath DIFFICULT TASK FOR FIREMEN Flames leaping far into- the air and Illumining the hillside attended the complete gutting by fire of a two-story wooden residence, owned by Mr. P. Glazer, at 15 Lindum Terrace, Roseneath, last evening. At the time of the outbreak there was no one in the house, which had just been completely renovated and refurnished. Outer walls and roof were all that remained when the flames had done their work.

The fire proved exceptionally stubborn, and three-quarters of an hour after tjieir arrival firemen were still finding minor outbreaks. Fortunately, a brisk southerly breeze, which at first assisted the flames soon ‘died away The alarm was received at the central fire station at 7.31 p.m., and when the two engines arrived the house was a holocaust, the fire apparently having been burning within for a considerable time, rendering the seat difficult to determine. Locked doors and windows placed further difficulties in the way of the firemen, who were faced at all points with a wall of smoke and flames in their efforts to gain an entrance. One man was fortunate to escape with a shaking when the collapse of part of the floor of the upper story precipitated him, complete with hose, to the lower floor.

Mr. Glazer and his family had not been living in the house, scaffolding and unpainted roofing testifying to the uncompleted renovations, but they were to have spent last night there. All their property, including the trousseau of a daughter who is shortly to be married, was in the blaze, from which nothing was saved. Charred remains of walls, completely consumed furniture and missing staircase bore testimony to the ferocity of the flames. Driven by the wind, flames licked the side of the house on the lower side, No. 11 Lindum Terrace, which, fortunately, is constructed of concrete. The fire gained a hold on the eaves, but was quickly subdued, not before there had been a hurried exodus of families and furniture from the several flats comprising the building. Firs engines are becoming familiar sights in that portion of Roseneath, for last night’s call was the third to that district within the last week or two, the former two having been to minor outbreaks. One result of last night’s call was that the male sex was left considerably in the minority at the dance held in the fire brigade hall.