THE FATAL FIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 36, 12 February 1940, Page 9

THE FATAL FIRE

BRIGADE'S FINE WORK

GREAT TRAGEDY AVERTED

GUESTS IN DANGER

A further examination of the stairway, landings, and lobbies of the Hotel

Lloyds, where a fatal fire occurred

early on Saturday morning, in company with the Superintendent of the-

Wellington Fire Brigade, Mr. C. A. 'Woolley, this morning impressed upon

a ?Tbst" reporter the danger that existed for the thirty or more guests

and the extraordinarily effective attack made upon the fire, on landing after

landing, to gain control within minutes of the arrival of the brigadt. A

great tragedy was averted by that immediate attack, in which men and apparatus worked against seconds.

Had Miss Matthews, the 17-year-old waitress who lost her life, stepped from her window on to the exterior fire escape on the western face of the building she could probably have descended unaided, or, had that not been possible, she could have sheltered in .comparative safety at the far end of - the escape until assistance reached her. A'friend of Miss Matthews working in the hotel said this morning that -she not infrequently . sat' out on the escape in the sun and so was well aware of its situation and direction, but' evidently, when, awakened from a deep sleep "by smoke and flames, she had rushed f°r the stairs, to be turned back by awell of fire/ How. long the fire*had been burning when the alarm was given (by Mr. R,; Jenkin, a member of the Air Force, ■oh returning to the hotel) cannot be known, but when the brigade arrived, within, two minutes of the reception of the -call, the inferno on the top floor and fh t^e sta^s'frori^ the fifth to the si^thlandipg wa?. so terrible that no one, could..: possibly have passed, The volume of flame pouring from the upper: window's had by that time cut off, .access. along! the exterior escape, until ci high-pressure hose ; was dragged upwards to the highest platform of the escape and the fire brought down to such: a .stage that the men could enter this level.. It.is thought probable that Miss Matthews had "succumbed to heat and. suffocation by smoke before the alarm :W?s g;yen., ■ ;', : CALL. , .-,.-..... The brigade'had been called out to a supposed'fire at the hotel at 1.48 a.m., the alarm- haying been given by a policeman 9 n Patrol duty from an alarm box at the cor her of Cuba and Dixon Streets, It was found that there was in fact no fire, but a great volume of dense smoke was pouring from the chimney of the coke water-heater and incirieratbr. The supposed outbreak was inspected from the kitchen level and also' from the roof; there was no sign of fire beyond,a few sparks. A bucket.pump wai> used to make fully sure, and the building as well as the chimney was inspected, as is brigade custom. . Four! officers carried out the inspection, the deputy, superintendent, the brigade's fourth officer, the. assistant inspecting officer, and. the officer' in charge., of the gyiog^squadron. Having satisfied themselves" that the building was fire-safe, they returned to the station and entered their report in the usual manner. There have been repeated calls to the hotel to supposed fires, having to do \vith this smoke • problem,* calls have been received on this account ou the following dates:—April 24, September ..IS., Npvember;B, December .19,; and, the last call ;,on Saturday morning Mr«: WpoUey showed ''The Post" reporter, the. differing lines of the flue and chimney .of the incinerator, and of thai evident-upward track of the fire, which started—all the physical evidence seems to show-—to one side of the incinerator, thereafter shooting the full height of th© building up through the timber^lined dumbwaiter shaft. The officers of-the brigade are fully satisfied that the fire at 4 a.m. was not caused by the. smoke trouble at 2 o'clock. Normally, such furnaces do not give.: out any volume of smoke when .usual, fuels are burnt, EXTRAORDINARY SPREAD OF FIRE. The building was erected in 1908 and though extensive'renovations were recently carried out they did not extend to structural alterations to the old design of stairway,'lift-well, and dumbwaiter, which allowed.the fire to roar upwards from its starting point in the kitchen at tremendous speed, so that there Vwas;.presented to the brigade on its" .arrival the - most unexpected combination -;of a blazing ground floor lobby^; with--similar conditions on the first floor, a?.raging.fire on the sixth floor, and fire; commencing to break through'ythe ihhr walls "of the dumbwaiter shaft all the way. up and par-ticularly;"-at* the: landings. There were guests on all the "floors, and until the fire in the ground floor lobby, and about the first floor landing was controlletj leads could not be led up from landing to- landing. Heavy jets were directed, up both- the wallboard enclosed lift well and the dumb-waiter shaft, holding the fire until the stairway was passable. Some of the guests descended by the escapes, front and back, others were taken down -the stairs when the way was safe. Locked doors were smashed in, for while the danger lasted seconds were invaluable. There was a good deal of confusion in the dark and smoke-filled passages, but no one on the lower floors was injured with the exception of one senior fireman who suffered burns on one hand from a flash-back of flame The fire was remarkable in the speed of its spread from ground to top floor, owing to the design of the old dumbwaiter shaft, in the . extreme danger that faced those on the sleeping floors and in.the speed with which the many fires breaking through the shaft walls were controlled to permit safe, but still most uncomfortable, use of the stairways under guidance. A few months after the permit for the building was. granted, iri February. 1908. amended buildine bylaw? of the City Council forbade the construction of any 'ift or elevator the walls of which are not enclosed in fireproof material, and thi hotel was probably the last such building erected under the'old bylaw. ESCAPES FOR ALL BEDROOMS A point of particular importance is emphasised by the fire—-though i+ had no bearing ipon the loss, of life in this instanced It is that all hotels and similar buildings should be provided with adeauate exterior fire escapes passing all bedrooms. In this case and in a number of ;lder buildings escapes can be reached only by crossing or even passing some distance along passages, which, filled with dense smoke and great heat, would be utterly impossible, for not five steps could be taken, even if the way could be clearly seen. For- ■ tunately, that position did riot have to ' be faced, for the rapidity of the ittack : upon the shaft of fire preventing its i lateral spread on all but the top floor. \ held back smoke and heat to such a . degree that passageways were safe. \