HUGE FIRE

Hokitika Guardian, 19 January 1937, Page 5

HUGE FIRE

IN MELBOURNE HALF A MILLION DAMAGE. (Australian Press Association.) MELBOURNE, January 18. j A huge tire, fanned by a stiff j north wind, gutted the greater por- j tion of the Government cool stores j at Victoria dock this afternoon. Con- J siderable quantities of frozen meat, ! mutton, lamb, butter, and cheese, J and) other produce awaiting shipment, as well as valuable plant and machinery, were totally destroyed. Flying embers set fire to the large j steamer Port Wellington, which had j to bo towed to mict-stream. Three i other large freighters, including the j I'ort Nicholson, were towed to ' safety. .Several railway trucks were j [burned, also .portions of the "wharf, j Firemen found their task most j difficult because of the inflammable j ilmraeter of the buildings and the i contents, and also because of the I poor pressure of water. They were j compelled to divide their efforts hetween saving the stores and the wharf and the steamers. Tremen- j dons lengths of hose were requisi-I tion. One of the greatea em- 1

Larrassments was the continuous barrage of blazing and' smouldering pieces of cardboard ■ and pasteboard whirling from the burning building m the direction of the ships. A tentative estimate of the damage is £503,000.

AT NURSES HOME OXE INMATE. KILLED NEW YORK, January 17. Trapped in a converted residence without a fire escape, a nurse was burned to death and another was gravely injured. Several were rescued spectacularly. . . A milkman among the spectators saw a nurse prepare . to, jump front a third 'floor window;He • shouted to her to wait .while he.grabbed a bed blanket, 1 The back .of - a.horse was enlisted, to help, three others' to hold the corners. She jumped, tore through the blanket, and hit the pavement, fracturing ; hor spine and her skull. - ; '. • .' ' A hospital used the building as a nurses’ liomo. ,