MIDNIGHT FIRE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXXII, Issue 2805, 25 November 1931, Page 4

MIDNIGHT FIRE.

HOUSE TOTALLY DESTROVED. OCCUPANTS ESCAPE INJURY. About 11.30 on Monday night last - a five-roomed house, the property of Mr F. A. Jensen, situated on the Ngatea-Kopuarahi Road, was totally.. destroyed by fire. Shortly after eleven, Mrs Jensen was awakened by a crash as : portion of the burning structure fell.' Mr Jensen was absent at Pukekohe at the time, and the only other occupant of the house- was Mrs Jensen’s twelve r year-old daughter, Betty. Mrs Jensen immediately awakened: - her, and together they escaped from the burning building through the win- ' dow of Mrs Jensen’s bedroom. They • summoned a farm hand who slept in an outbuilding, but by the time he v/as on the scene the fire s had an almost uncontrollable hold. Realising that he was powerless to fight .the flames alone, anjd that the garage in close proximity to the house was ; n danger of catching alight, the farm hand ran across to the quarters of . the mien employed in the Hauraki lime works, and summoned their assistance. By combined effort, and with the «< assistance of water from the house • tanks, although the fire fighters were-*’ unable to save the house, they were ’ able to prevent the flames spreading to the garage, only a few feet away from the burning building. The house and contents were a’ *otal loss, Mrs Jensen and her daughter saving nothing but the clothes in which they escaped. The house and furnishings were.,, covered by insurance, but to what exlent has not yet been ascertained.