FIRES.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 253, 12 October 1911, Page 6

FIRES.

LOVELL AND CHRISTMAS’ COLD STORES. FIREMEN OVERCOME BY IT MES. i-ni" m.-om-ix i oi-vitmin. ■ (Received 12. 9.0 a.m.) London. Oct. 11. During a fire at .Messrs. Lovell ami Cl.>-i<trims’ cold store warehouse in West Smithfield the refrigerator pipes burst ami the fumes overcame a dozen firemen who were rescued with difficulty. All have recovered. The damage was small. ANOTHER BLAZE AT HASTINGS AN INMATE NARROWLY ESI APES. The H a<tings firelx-ll sounded another alarm at 1 I o'clock this morning. This time the blaze was a five-roomed cottage in Karamu road mar Jtrvois street, and owned by Mr. Thomas (Tip) Rian, a butcher employed at Tuinoana.

Neighbours first noticed flames i issuing from the back portion of the ; building, and gave the alarm to the > men working on the sewage scheme j in the vicinity, who telephoned to I the Fire Brigade Station. Within a ■ few seconds of the ringing of the ‘ firebeil a large crowd had assembled on the scene. The flames by this time completely enveloped the house, and it was impossible to save anything m the way of furniture. Some , bed clothing and wearing apparel l?were rescued, but with the exception I of this everything was devoured by | the flames.

The Fire Brigade brought the manual and chemical engine into requisition. but owing to the lack of water they wi re unable to maks any material check on the fire, and so confined their efforts to saving a shed and a pile of firewood. The house and contents were insured in the Standard Fire and Marine Insurance Company for the sum of £390. It is stated that owing to some family disturbance last evening Mrs. Ryan and her children left the house and slept at a neighbour's place, leaving her husband the only* occupant. Ryan's son states that his father was in the house about 10 o'clock this morning, and was then drunk. He (the son) left the house shortly after, and was in town when the firehell rang. His father had been going through the receipts for the insurance premiums in his presence. Seen after the fire by the police and representatives of the Press. Ryan senr.. who was then in a semiintoxicated condition, said that he was lying on a bed in one of the back rooms lO o clock and smoking his pipe. Shortly after he went across the road to see a neighbour, and returning again to his home, he fell asleep on a bed in one of the front rooms. He was awakened by the'burning roof crashing in on him. i and he had barely time to escape. Rvan added that he must have set fire to the bed clothes when smoking in the back room. Rvan's hair was singed to the scalp, but he suffered no injury. It was at first feared that he had perished in the flames. The house and contents were insured in the name of Mrs. Ryan. YESTERDAY'S BLAZE. THE INSURANCES. The house destroyed by fite in Gordon road. Hastings, yesterday, and owned and occupied by Mr. I Harry Hickey, was insured in the New ’Zealand Insurance Company s office for £l5O, and the Alliance office held a risk of £l5O over the furniture Mrs. Hickev left some burning embers in the kitchen fireplace before having for the Napier Park races I and it is conjectured that some of i these fell on to the hearthrug or a wicker chair which was close by. The house was a very old one.