THE WANGANUI TRAGEDY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 19 March 1921, Page 8

THE WANGANUI TRAGEDY

I FULL DETAILS j WANGANUI, March 11. \ It is most difficult to get ;i. 'coherent account of last night's' dreadful (ragedy, which occurred in Keith street, resulting in three children being burned to death, and another so injured that it dh>d from the effects to-day, says |he Otago Daily Times. The fullest particulars now show it.at Mrs llishop. lilt* mother wont to visit, a neighbour, leaving nine children in the bouse, their ayes ranging from 11 years to 18 months. The children, were left in the case of Miss Annie Rachael Gray. the owner of the house, and .she retired to rest about 7 o'clock, talc-: ina; the baby with her. Five of the' children were (sleeping in the back' room, where the tragedy took place, and the others in a front loom. About 10 minutes to 9 Mrs M'Kenzic, a neighbour wa* horritied to see that flames were breakins; out of the rear portion of the house next door. She roused son and sent him off to the police station to give the alarm, and afterwards ru-shed to see what as-. sh-Jance she; could give. Entering the front door, she met Miss Gray staggering out with the baby. She' hail been roused tfy the noise of. the fire ; and had tried to make i her eye ape from the burning build m%. After seeing her to safety, Mrs M'Kenzie went back again to the burning building, and rescued three children, one from the room where the tragedy occurred. On entering again she found that her approach had been cut off by the flames, so, with some assistance she tried to effect an entrance to a room by a window; but here • she found that passage was block- j cd by a bedstead which cut off over half the window space, and also by a chest of drawers. Assisted by her son and daughter, she tried to effect an entrance, but without success About this time the fire brigacc came on the scene and welv-j ii: formed of the situation, and the/children were brought out by th've of the brigadesmen. The ciigni of the fire is a j mystery, but it appears as if it j had been burning some time beforo being discovered, as when first seen the flames were bursting from the rear portion of the build- \ ing It had evidently started in l the kitchen, and had spread across I iho passage and along the ceiling' to the room where the children j were. This room was a small one, j practicailv the only furniture being a bed a cot, and a chest of, drawers the window wa-s close j to the floor, and it would have, been an easy matter for anyone to j W'* cumbed in from the outside, bm, f'<r tin-, bed, one side of wh'chi was iv against the wall and <ne. other co.ered more than half the window, which was a small one. A boy about 10 years of age wan awakened by tho sound of the j fire, which he said was in the j kitchen. He jumped out of the window, and cried out to give the alarm. . Superintendent Williams, of the

lire brigade, stated that only two minutes elapsed from the time when it received the call until it, arrived ufc the scene of the tragedy. The brigade did all it could, but; no power on earth could have sav-j ed the children under the circum-j stances. When tho brigade arrived, | I said the superintendent, flames ! J were bursting out of the front door | He ordered a lead of hose to be jput on to this at once, he giving ; assistance in this work. When he I was told that there were eight ' children in tho one room he gave hurried instruction to the men, and followed a guide round to the side of the house, and found at tho room indicated, «moke pouring out through the window, and flarnee were also breaking out. He tried to get through the window, but iound that this was impossible owing to a bed being placed at the window. After a little bit of a struggle he managed to it aside sufficiently to enable Foreman Bonnani and Fireman Delves to get through. Bonnani, after groping about in smoke and flames found- one body on a double bed and another in a cot, and these were passed outside. He now got inside, and, believing more children were 'ia the burning building, searched around the room, and found a third little body on the floor, between the bed and the cot, where there was a space of about 18in. Meanwhile the brigade had been working hard, and had managed to get the outbreak under control. He continued to search through the house for the other children, but

could not find them, arid learned I later that they had been rescued ! before the brigade arrived. He ex. I pressed the opinion that the child- ! fen were suffocated by smoke and [ heat long before the brigade got 1 there; also that it was. impossible Jor such young children to have I survived for long under the mI tense heat and thick smoke which 1 there must have been in the room. Indeed, he doubts whether an adult would have survived for long under such circumstances. Superintendent Williams stressed the danger of placing a bed or anything else against a window, because in case of a person being roused by a house being on nre, and finding his retreat via the door cut off, he or she would stand a eood chance of -oceiving serous injuries, or even losing their lives, were the bedroom cut off by a ,bed or «ome other heavy artier of 'furniture being placed before the window. Such obstructions ■ wo-.net also, as in this case, prevent a fireman or rescuer from-prompt!* entering the room rroin the out- , side. There was a tinrd reason why this dangerous pra«nc should !h 'avoided. With a bed rlaced against a window it is in the direct line of the flames, because once they broke into the room the draught would draw t ho flames ami make towards the window. This remark would apparently receive {confirmation from the tact that the child in the bed web badly burnt about the head, and! he bedding was burnt in some place*, while the other two bodies were not burnt by the ike. # Senior Sergeant Bourse, in dw- | cussing the tragedy, said nothing had moved him bo deeply during Ms long term of'office asto see the bodies of three sturdy little

chaps lying cold and sLiff on a slao in the morgue, The youngest boy had been badly burned and pieces' of blackened kapok were adhering .to his'skin; Out the scars on the others were not nearly so severe, and possibly they may .iave been mercifully suffocated without suffering the terrible pains of burning. Tho whole tragedy happened so suddenly. Tb- Bishop family has had a most unfortunate experience. Some time ago, during the influenza emdemic, the breadwinner died just ■shortly before the baby was born. Thb" public of Wanganui took such a .sympathetic interest m the family that a substantial fund for i their tenefit was raised. I Miss Gray, who was taken io A [neiithl'i.urfi house last night in a 'statu of collapse, met with an accident; early this morning. She fell through a'glass door, receiving serious wounds on her face, and ; now lies in a serious condition.