SPECTACULAR FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 140, 16 June 1933, Page 8

SPECTACULAR FIRE

DWELLING DESTROYED

HOSPITAL ENDANGERED ' . A spectacular fire wlxich resulted in the destruction . of a two-storey house at No. 1 Coromandel Street occurred early this morning. The five occupants, three adults and two children, escaped in their night attire. No furniture or personal effects were saved from; tho building, owing to the- rapid progress which the flames had made when the outbreak was discovered. The house was a wooden building containing eight rooms, and. was owned by the Wellington Trust, Loan, and Investment Co., Ltd. The occupants were Mr. H. W. Ma stele and Mr. and Mrs. Larsen and. their-two .children.' The insurance on the house is" £1350 in the Commercial Union Office. There was no insurance on the contents. . - The alarm was received by.the Fire Brigade at 1.44 o'clock, and two engines from the Constable Street Station and one from the Central Station were sent out. The building was well alight when the brigadesmen arrived on the scene, and the flames wore being fanned by a strong southerly wjnd which sent smoke and sparks over a wide area, including the Bwart Hospital. Two leads of hose were put into operation, the ■pressure being "boosted" by the pumps, and within twenty minutes the outbreak was under control. Special precautions were taken to prevent the Ewart Hospital • from catching alight. The patients, although only forty or fifty yards away from the fife, showed no alarm, and no damage was done to the hospital building. Two canaries and a dog were the only possessions tho occupants were able to take withHhem from the burning house. Mr. and Mrs. Larsen and the children and Mr. Mastele were provided with accommodation at the People's Palace for tho remainder of the night.