Fire on Liner

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 4, 6 January 1941, Page 7

Fire on Liner

CREW’S LONG TIGHT PASSENGERS DID NOT KNOW The crew of a British liner which arrived at an Australian port recently successfully fought a lire in ono of the holds for live and a-half hours without the 2UO passengers knowing anything about it. The lire occurred at night, after the passengers had left the dining saloon, and by daylight all traces of it had been cleared away. The outbreak* was reported to the captain soon after 8 j».in., when the liner was a long distance from the coast. He located it in one of the lower holds in the after section of the liner. At once all watertight doors were closed, isolating the area immediately above the lire. A small hole was made in the hatch covers for hoses to bo pushed through to the seat of the lire and to minimise the draught, and a start was made to flood the lower hold. The passengers were in the public rooms and did not notice the smoke. The captain directed the efforts of the officers, engineers, and crew, and as soon as they were hard at work he went to tho lounge so that the passengers would not notice his long absence and comment on it. The captain had an anxious time, because inliammable cargo w r as stov r ed above the lire. Pus sengers wore playing cards and having community singing, but the captain hid his anxiety and moved from group to group, chatting. Only one passenger, a master mariner, guessed that something was amiss. He noticed that the captain came into the room with the coat of his uniform slightly stained, and soon after the second engineer entered and drew the captain aside for a conversation. The master mariner passenger was let into the secret and sworn to silence. When the passengers retired to their cabins the fire was still burning, but was well controlled. Soon after 1.30 a.ra. the lire was out. Later in the day the passengers went ashore, and even today they do not know how close they were to tho danger of lire at sea.