TRAGEDY IN KENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20306, 13 July 1929, Page 11

TRAGEDY IN KENT.

.TWELVE cadets perish

LADS BURNED TO DEATH

TIKE BRIGADE DISPLAY.

dummy house erected

SET AUGHT I'ltv-MATTRPXY.

Pv Telecrntili—Press Association—Corvri.?ht Austra'ifUl Pr' ? s AsioeinHon-Vni«e«? "trrice (Received July 12, 1 r>.m.> LONDON. July 12 Twelve cadets were burned to death through the collapse of a dumniv house at a fire brigade's display at Gillinghwn Park, Kent.

A fete was being held in aid of local hospitals and the dummy house was built for the purpose of illustrating lifesaving methods.

The boys were inside, representing the occupants of a house. The house was set on fire prematurely, and the hoys perished before (hoy could be reached.

Tho building was a wooden structure of three storeys, and contained piles of loose wood saturated with oil. in order to make flip blaze spectacular The cadets were caught in a sheet of flames, which shot through the roof, and spread with terrific rapidity, involving tho whole building.

A Scoutmaster, Mr. Newton, said there wero 15 persons in si fie the house, including the cadets nnd Hoy Scouts. Several cf them were dressed as clowns, and one as an old woman, the idea being to give « touch of comic relief. Tho firemen dashed among the debris, pulling out the. dead and injured. A searchlight v,-as turned on, and an ambulance was rushed up. The Mayor of Gillingham, Mr. A. S. J. Treacher, witnessed the tragedy, and he was heartbroken

People watching tho antics of the clowns and the other occupants of the house thought their gestures and cries were part of tho fun. Even when the flames were at their height, some persons did not know that lives were being lost. It is considered likely that a dropped eig.irette or a match caused the fire.

Gillingham is a town of 54,000 people, quite closo to and included in the Parliamentary borough of Chatham. It was constituted a separate borough for local government in 1903. A great battle was fought at Gillingham in 1016. between Edmund Tronsidc and Canute the Dane.