BURNED TO DEATH

Evening Star, Issue 21992, 30 March 1935, Page 12

BURNED TO DEATH

FATE OF TWO BOYS EXPLOSION OF FILMS Two boys, each aged fourteen, wer# burned to death at East Brunswick* Melbourne, lately, when thousands of} feet of motion picture film exploded in a narrow brick workshop in which they were working. The two boys—Leslie Smith and Charles Leydon—were working alone in a workshop. They were cleaning 1 a quantity of scrap motion picture film to remove tho printed surface wheu the film caught fire. Hundreds of tins containing film exw ploded, and were scattered for mora than 100yds. The flames spread; rapidly, and set fire to other buildings,It is believed that, in the intense heat,the boys could not have lived for mora than a few minutes. The body of one boy was found in si, yard at the rear of the building.Apparently he was just leaving theworkshop wheu the fire broke out. butj the flames caught him before he could 1 , escape. The other body was found irt* the workshop. Both bodies were ter*; ribly charred. The intensity of the heat generated was shown by the body of a dog which’ was found in a lane. It was passing the building when the fire and it was killed by the heat. As Mr A. G. Hardy, at the rear of' whose factory the workshop was situ« ated, was working yi his factory with! an employee, Mr H. J. Henry, they, heard ,a scream. At the same tim« there was a dull explosion, and sheets of flame burst into the factory. Both! men dropped their tools and ran to safety. So great was the heat that they could not come within SQyds of the building, and they could not mak* any effort to rescue the boys. Fences and electric light poles 30yd< from the factory were set on fire,: A dairy on the opposite side of tho lane caught fire, but the flames werO extinguished by firemen _ before they, spread. A piece of blazing film was carried by the wind into a shirt fac-J tory about 60yds from the workshop and set fire to a pile of shirts. Twelvo girls working in the factory ran shriek-« ing from the room, but the fire was extinguished before much damage was done.

Charles Riley, a baj; merchant, was attending to a" horse in a stable more than 150yds from the film workshop when the fire broke out. The heat scorched his bare arm So badly that h<* had to seek medical attention. Th* workshop was destroyed.