FATAL FIRE IN CHRISTCHURCH

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 13983, 20 November 1917, Page 2

FATAL FIRE IN CHRISTCHURCH

BOARDING HOUSE BURNED J r i THREE LIVES Ii)ST TERRIFYING FIGHT FOR ■ / , LIFE MANY BOARDERS INJURED FIREMEN'S GHASTLY TASK - i ■.-.■ (.Per Press Association). ' eiIRISTCHURCII, November 19.' A disastrous fire involving lo'ss of life, occurred early, this morning in the boarding-house and. dining-room known ns the Silver > Grid, "situated in Manchester street, near the.railway station. Tiic property ia owned by L, E. Nathan's Trustees, Loudon, and. was leased to Mr John Percival Smith. .Tho alarm was given at 2.37,& nd when the fire brigade arrived the flames were bursting out of the front of the building and 20ft across the street. Tho main efforts of the firemen were devoted to saving the lives of the iniimtcs. The bodies of the denll and those injured wero icarried out to tho balcony and lowered to the pave'pavement.. The burning of the only staircase, a narrow wooden structure, cut off escape to the ground floor, and the only means of escape for tho inmates was a couple of fire-escapes at the back of the building, or through the front windows. To go 'through the windows seemed suicidal, as the flames were surging upwards, and the glass verandah below was a trap. Men went frantic with fear aiid burns, and gruesome scenes were witnessed as. the inmates leaped from tho front windows to the verandah and smashed through the glass, cutting themselves,, and then stumbling along, shrieking uud groanilig iii panic.

The Victims, Tlioso who perished in the flames were:— F, W, Hatch (an elderly man). ) Mnj Elmo Stack (a young woman, who was employed at the Jboardnghouse). Thomas Smith (a young man employed at Messrs Skel'ton and Frostick's boot factory). , ♦List of Injured, The lint of injured' is as follows,— Mrs Smith (wife of ; the licensee), severely burned and cut. Her condition is critical, 1 William Vincenl, thiriy-five years of Ifige, slightly burned. David Alo»re Arthur, sixty-six years ,of hsre,• severely burned, • j George William Spiecr, iifty-c^ht I years of age, slightly burned,

John l'ercival Smith, forty years'of rttfc, severely burned and suffering from shoelt.

William Leuney, fifty years of age, severely cut on tliu legs, John Percival Smtli, forty years of age, severely cut on right hand and wrist.

George Sullivan, twenty-six, severely JninYeil and cut on the neck.

Henry Herbert Beer, forty-five years of age, severely' burned and cut oil the face and boilv, and Buffering from slight shock.

An air of mystery surrounds the t origin of the fire, which had a -;ood hold : when the alarm was given', It appears I lo have started up stairs near the top I of the building, Eighteen or twenty , persons were in the house at i ' the time, and few escaped without in- , jury of some kind. Fortunately a good ; water supply was and tho ■ fire was confined to the boarding house, i though the adjoining building and con- • tents were damaged, i The building was insured for £1525 In the Union Office, 1 Grim Struggle in an Inferno Most of the boarders, when they reached the street, were in their nightclothes, some of these being singed. Smith, lessee of tho premises, -was ' sleeping in a double upstairs room in front of the building., He was awakened by a crash of glass, and on opening the door was confronted by a considerable volume of smoke. He went to the room next door occupied by his sis-ter-in-law Miss S, Joyce) and Mrs Elsie Stack. Rousing tlicin, he rushed back lo the room, thinking to escape by the window, which opened on a narrow balcony, but tho flames forced them to retreat. ' Ho then went to the back room in time to sfce his wifo jump out on to (lie verandah and roll off to the ground. Stack had meanwhile been on the / balcony, but the flames drove them back, and she re-entered the room. She evidently had tried.to get through the passage, and had been suffocated on the landing later. She was then taken from the building, but just died as the firemen reached her. Meanwhile Smith had gone to the second window of tho bedroohfc where the flames and smoke were notjp dangerous. He had hold of Mis'sfJoyce, and as they clambered over the'balcony both fell through the iron framework, and were hanging suspended in an unenviable position, Fortunately, they were able to get up and staggered along. tho . verandah to the window above the empty shop, through which .they Escaped. _*■ tho firemen,had.a gruesome task in recovering the 1 , bodies. That df Hatch was found in a small room with one door and no window, The man had' mdeuth not gone to bed, the body being fullv dicssed, oven to the boots and hat He was hiiddlc # d in a corner mar the door with a pillow under his head. The othcr.mnn's body was literally roasted, and flat found lyirig across the fnmiwork ot the skjlighl giving light lo tin dining ruoiri The bkjlight was at the jjotlom of a well where the fire nged mojt leicoh Smith, m escap Uif liom tli" vudow, hid rropul hn waj towards the passagi, hit his oveaume on (he skjlight Tho ■hod; \\\ (hiricd bevomj lecogniliou, I lioMi h uuls, hpiuj; nuViiiig, one being i found L\ the police among the debris Mis* Stack mdently dipcl of suffoea iion f->he was tlid in hei night attire, "ijd t'le-flimcs lijitl not affected lici a gieat dial, her han not o\on being finjpd and checks Btill showing n' Jteilthv colour, / ,

ORIGIN OP- FIEE A BIG HOLD[ BEFORE GIVEN /<\ TERRIBLE SCENES DURING ' ,<•" ' " i . • * • ! (Per Press Association). , , „, j CHRISTCHURCH, November 19. There is an air of mystery about the J origin of the Silver Grid lire. Nobody seems to havo noticed it'beforo it'-had got a hold; and tho alarm was late in being'' given, although the brigade turned out smartly. Apparently, the firo started upstairs, somewhat near thefront part of tho building. The neigh- ■' boms were alarmed almost as soon as tho inmates. There may have boon eighteen or twenty pcrsons'slecping on - trio piemiscs, and it seems 1 as if few escaped without injury of some kind. The first.that was known of the fire was when tho interior was blazing fiorcoly, and it seems'as if'tho'training of the only staircase—a narrow wooden .: ,\ ,; structure—had cutoff nil escape to the". ;■. -,!: bottom floor.): Consequently, the main : : iy.; means of escapewas by a couple of iron /' ;> firo escape's at tho back of the build- ;■ ■<■>'; iiig, or through the front windows. But ■""■•• to get out of the front windows seemed... almost suicidal, • for the flames we're surging upwards, and tho. glass verandah wasa trap. Men are said to have gone absolutely frantic with fpar-and burns, and some-gruesome scenes were witnossed. As the imitates leaped from the'front windows on to the'ci,u£jrtg glass verandah, they sinashed through the glass, cutting their hands and feet, Y . As they stumbled,along thoy shrieked )- aud groaned in panic. The sight was quite unnerving, as blood was every-, where. The tragedy was deepened by the fact that the number of persons . who had perished in the building was ■ unknown. ' v -

'(A GHASTLY BUSINESS."

FRANTIC STRUGGLE FOR LIFE, EVIDENCE OF A GRIM TRAGEDY. M'er ?res« CHRIBTOHURCH, November 19. Fortunately, there were a few coolheaded folk to look after the maddened escapees from the building. Mr T. Dodd, whose tea rooms are in the same block, "a few doors nearer the "lil'vav station, was early aroused, with His family, He said that at about 2,30 a.in, he' was aroused by tha sound of firo, and went out at once. He • was there fully ten minutes before the brigade arrived, and in that time some horrible scenes wero enacted. The men escaping from the front rooms rushed along the verandah, and -"re able, fortunately, to escape through Mr Dodd's upper windows. It was a ghastly business, and,even this morning the traces of it could be seen in the pools of blood left on a few of the unbroken verandah-panes where the victims had passed along. Ouq man had the calf of his leg almost severed, and it hung down, clear of his leg, An other man went absolutely mad, and .careered . right along the verandah,' findshing the glass at every step. . He finally threw himself down on the road. The scene was a,shambles. On tho other side of tho street tho victims were gathered, waiting for the ambu> lance, and pools of blood lying thero still testify to their sufferings.

INQUEST FORMALLY OPENED. FOURTH VICTIM SERIOUSLY ' INJURED, Per Press .Association. CHBISTCHUBCH, NovemW ip The inquest on the Silver Oridf- fire victims was formally opened this afternoon and adjourned, Mr A. D. Smith, a bookseller, whose .stock was damaged, was insured for £IOO in the Alliance, § Mr J. P. Smith, the proprietor of the Silver Grid, had £250 insurance in the Phccuix on his furniture, Ho is a con-' siderablo loser. , The late Mr Hatch, one of the victims, was for forty years a compositor at the Lyttclton Times office. Mrs Stark leaves two children, aged twelve months and three yiiars respectively, Mrs J, P, Smith, who was seriously injured in her effort to'escapo, is not expected to live many hours. OUTBREAKS IN COKER'S HOTEL.

THREE ATTEMPTS AT INCENDIAR ISM.

FIRES EXTINGUISHED WITHOUT , LOSS. - (Per Press Association}. CHRISTCHURCH, November 19.. ,";,,' No fewer than three fires wore disfflU covered iu Coker's Hotel, one of thifl largest in Christchurch, to-night, whicjM is situated' 1 near tho scene of th/morning's fatal outbreak. .The fiJ / was in the dining room, but- was L ■'/ small dimensions, and was speedily exv, . . tinguislied. Later a lire was discovered ' in an unoccupied bedroom on tire - first floor, the burning bedding from which . was .found at the, bottom of the back stairsway, where it had\kmdled Another incipient lire. None ofUhe three out-, breaks resulted in •much damage, but in view of recent happenings, the out- ' breaks have led to tho belief that in- V cendiarismjs at work.