RECENT FIRE AT SEACLIFF

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 23 December 1942, Page 2

RECENT FIRE AT SEACLIFF

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO BE SET UP Wellington, This Day. The Health Minister, Mr Nordmeyer, announces the setting up of a commission to inquire into the circumstances of the fire at Seaclifl Mental Hospital on Bth December when 37- patients lost their lives. It consists of Mr Bundle, S.M., Miss J. A. Tomlinson (superintendent ol' the Dunedin Public Hospital) and Mr F. C. Laidlaw (superintendent of the Dunedin Fire Brigade). The commission will inquire as to whether the building in which patients were housed was dangerous with respect to fire hazards, whether such danger existed by reason of any defects in construction, whether the fire alarm system was adequate, whether the fire brigade was effectively trained and used, whether the fighting equipment was adequate, whether the supervision of patients by the staff at all times of the day and night was adequate, whether there was any dereliction of duty on the part of any member of the staff and whether anj' practicable steps could be taken to reduce the fire hazards of the institution and similar institutions, and generally report upon such other matters as should be brought to the attention of the Government. The commission is to meet after the holidays and report before Ist March. —P.A.