LEFT BY FIRE ESCAPE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 74, 29 March 1939, Page 12

LEFT BY FIRE ESCAPE

WIRELESS STUDENTS

"SOMETHING OVERHEATING"

When the fire broke out, from fifteen to twenty students were being given instruction at Johnson's Wireless College, whose premises were on the fifth floor of Victoria House. The instructor smelt burning, and said so, but at first he thought that some equipment he was using was on fire or was becoming overheated. But when there was no improvement and the class btgan also to smell something suspicious, the teacher left the room, and came back with the announcement that the building was on fire. One of the students, Mr. R. Bennett, related this sequence of events in conversation with a "Post" reporter today. Mr. Bennett, as other members of the school must also have done, realised that it was very fortunate that they were made aware of the fire when they were, otherwise there was the possibility of their lives being in danger. As events turned out, they had sufficient warning to enable .them to leave without difficulty by the fira escape at the rear of the building. "We had one of the machines going, an oscillator, and our teacher thought that it was burning or getting overheated, and he was sniffing "around it," said Mr. Bennett. "Then the class began to smell something. We thought it was a transformer burning out or something like that. At last our teacher went outside. When he came back he said: 'By jove, boys, the place is on fire!' "There was no confusion, but we all got out as quickly as we could. When we left the room we found the corridor full of smoke, but could see no flames. It was very hot, though, and we knew at once from the smoke and the heat that the building was well alight, so we made for the fire escape at the back of the building. It was not a straight up-and-down escape, but was stepped on the slant, and we had no difficulty in getting down. When we got down to the bottom we went to ring the fire alarm in Willis Street, but someone already had given the alarm from Victoria Street.

"When we came back up the lane we looked up and saw smoke and sparks coming out of one of the windows at the top of the building. I think that if we had been up in the college rooms another ten minutes we would have been in a pretty hot spot and would have had difficulty in getting out."

Ml\ Bennett added that some of the class left their coats behind, but when he got into the corridor and sized up the position he rushed back into the room and got his coat and books. There was a fair amount of radio equipment at the college, and the instructor had some very fine books, which, were lost. ■'■-.--■