FIRE AT EDENDALE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19957, 28 May 1928, Page 8

FIRE AT EDENDALE.

TWO HOUSES DESTROYED. escape of the occupants BRIGADE SAVES THIRD HOUSE. OUTBREAK IN EARLY MORNING. ' Two families were rendered homeless by a disastrous fire which destroyed two modern bungalows in Taumata Road, Edendale, early yesterday morning. An outbreak which originated in one house was fanned to furnace heat in j f ew minutes by the gale that was blowing, and the driven fiames set fire to tha house next door. The oufside wall of a third house also caught fire, but th® intervention of the Mount Albert Fir® Brigade saved the house ffftrn materia], damage. Mr. J. T. Crowley, owner of the ffonse, at No. 43, Taumata Street, was awakened at a few minutes pasE five o'clock by the smoke and crackling of burning timber at the back of the house. Carrying the two young children, who were sleeping in another room, he and his wife escaped in their nfght attire. A few minutes later, the house wag blazing furiously, and the flames wer« scorching the walls of No. 45, next door. Mrs. Crowley roused the owner, Mr. R. VV, Parker, and his wife, who, with their three children and Mrs. Parker, senior, made a hurried exit alter donning some clothes. The house was quickly ablaze, and the occupants were unable to save any of their effects except the clothej they stood in. In the meantime, the alarm had been given from a neighbour's house, bat when the brigade arrived the two houses wera past saving, and efforts were chiefly directed to extinguishing the flames that had spread to the wall of No. 41, an unoccupied house owned by Mr. H. Lewis. Mr. Crowley's house was razed to the ground, and in a little over an hour only the charred walls of Mr. Parker's house were left standing. The cause of the outbreak is unknown. Temporary accommodation was found for the two families by neighbours. Both houses were insured in the Standard Insurance Office. Mr. Crowley's furniture was insured in the New Zealand Insurance Company for £2BO, and thft effects of Mr. Parker's family were covered by two policies totalling £250. HOTEL BURNED DOWN. OUTBREAK near hokitika. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] HOKITIKA. Sunday. The Caledonian Hotel, a structure of 12 rooms, at Stafford, was completely destroyed by fire about six o'clock on Friday evening. Nothing was saved. The licensee. Mr. Messervy, and his wife were on the premises when the fire broke out in the dining room. The flames immediately enveloped the building. The building was insured for £350 in the Atlas Office.