TRAGIC FIRE

Hokitika Guardian, 12 July 1930, Page 6

TRAGIC FIRE

GIRL’S FATAL FALL

TRAPPED AMIDST FLAMES.

DREADFUL SCENES.

SYDNEY, July 3.

The city fire that resulted in the death Of Miss Rosabella Miller was one of the most tragic that has occurred in the history of Sydney. Thousands of people watched Miss Miller and her mother fighting valiantly for their lives, and thousands saw the girl fall to her death, her hair and clothing ablaze. It was one of the most appalling sights it is possible to imagine, and the vast and helpless crowd was stricken with sorrow as the.drama was enacted before them. The actual damage caused by the fire was not considerable. The nlaim was given just before 5 o'clock m the evening, and big crowds so m gal hered until about 40,000 stood \ r i the streets adjacent to the fire. There seemed to be some delay .in calling the everybody seemed to take it fer granted that somebody else bad done that and so it transpired that, flamgs .were., leaping from . the roof. -and \the si»d--6ws, .and the"two -Vomerr were- beyond' aid when the flying squad of firemen reached the scene. Flames were burning fiercely behind the ' mother and her daughter as they hung out of a small window, waving 'frantically •and screaming for. aid. Smoke curled about them, sometimes almost hiding them ! from view, and it could be seen that they were finding it difficult to breathe. \ Next they were silhouetted against a i background of dancing flames.

MOTHER’S SELF-SACRIFICE. ' Whilst most of the crowd stood ; spell-bound, some gesticulated wildly, others called to the trapped women to Jump, and others again called Jo them, [•to stay where they were. It was at this time that a marvellous example of a mother’s self-sacrifice, was' witnesI sect. There was' little enough room j for one a,t the narrow aperture where ! the twd were, but the- daughter was apparently urging her mother to lean further out whilst she held her and t prevented her from falling. Then a terrible incident happened. The girl’s hair caught alight, and ’lifer head was quickly enveloped in flames. The mother then struggled back and with her skirt or some other article of cloflung she smothered the flames-. She then tried to struggle out of the windown again, but her supreme effort had proved too great a trial, and she w r as seen to totter and fall backwards. Later she was found by the fireman in ■ a dying condition just beneath the window inside the building. In the meantime the girl . hung motionless out of the window. It look,ed from below as though she had swooned. A moment before this the .fife engines arrived. Firemen were soon fighting their way upwards in the interior of the building, and others held a safety'net below the window, (■arid called to the girl to jump. It is doubtful whether she could see the net, but she half fell, half sprang from the window. Headl first, and with her clothes on Are, she hurtled downward, but before she reached the safety net she struck a projecting wall and received dreadful injuries. She fell within a few feet of those who were endeavouring to catch her with the net. Those who had witnessed this awful culmination of the tragic scenes that had passed before them turned away their heads. , They were ; horrified. A quick examination proved that , the girl was dead. She was so badly burnt that it appeared almost unbelievable that she could have remained conscious as long as she did.

Mr William Miller, who >vas the caretaker of the building;, arrived in Australia from New Zealand with his wife and daughter some years ago, and he had a tragic home-coming on the night of the fire. He had just turned into Bathurst street when he saw the road crowded, and heard the newsboys calling out “Tragic Fire in the City”—it was a special edition. Shocked when he saw the location of the fire he commenced to force his way into the building. A policeman at the entrance harred his way. “You can’t go in'there,” he was told, and he replied: “But I must. I am the caretaker and my wife and daughter might he inside.” Quickly the constable realised that the man was not aware of the tragedy., that had been anacted during his absence. He was taken aside, and told that his wife and ; daughter had been taken to the hospital. Not until later did he learn the full extent of the tragedy. His daughter was a charming girl, with her musical talents developed to a high degree. She taught music in Greenwich, one of Sydney’s suburbs ( and she was extremely popular among a wide section o»f the younger set. NARROW ESCAPES. Two men who were in the building when the fire broke out had narrow escapes, and' provided the crowd with additional thrills. They were Messrs. A. 0. Falconer and Frederick Hansen. They were driven from the fourth floor, where the fire originated, to the roof of the building. With their retreat cut off by roaring flames, and surrounded by heavy black clouds and smoke, their position was extremely 1

perilous. Desperately they clung to the coping within full sight of the immense crowd, and waved despairingly to the people iu the street. The crowd soon became numb with horror. “For Gods sake can’t .someone do something for them,” cried one woman, and then fainted.

Every minute their position became more dangerous. Flames from inside the building licked the walls and seemed to be creeping, gradually towards the two figures.; Apparently . their Mothold; was becoming, heated,, for they slowly edged; along the coping and took up a new position. A false step meant certain death. A huge fire engine carrying an electric extension 'cr then raced into the street. A moment later the- ladder commenced to move upward, and an intrepid fireman climbed on to-the top with, amazing speed. The men then crept along to”the top of the ladder, and with the aid of the fireman, guided their feeton to the topmost rung. Swirling smoke swept about them, and at times ■screened them from the view of the crowd. A gasp of relief hurst from the onlookers as they gradually made their way to safety. When they reached the street they both seemed to be exhausted, and' they were certainly suffering from the effects of the dieadful strain to which they had been subjected.