CITY OUTBREAK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23106, 3 August 1938, Page 12

CITY OUTBREAK

BRIGADE STOPS SPKEAD ONE BEDROOM BURNED FLAMES AWAKEN BOARDER A bedroom on the top floor of the Prince Arthur Hotel, on the corner of Welleslcy and Hobson Streets, was completely burnt out and only the prompt action of the Central Firo Brigade saved the flames from spreading when fire broke out in the bedroom at about 10.35 last night. A man who was occupying the room was aroused from sleep by the roar of flames sweeping out of the window near his head. Ho rushed out of the room in his pyjamas and gave the alarm. The glass in the window was melted by the fierce heat and flames and smoke poured out, mounting to the top of the building. The flames attracted the attention of picture-theatre crowds and within a few minutes hundreds gathered. From the bedroom the flames also swept out into a narrow passageway. The doors of three other bedrooms, a bathroom and a linen-press were shut, and to this fact the superintendent of the fire brigade, Mr. W. L. Wilson, attributed the quick saving of the hotel. The flames burnt the wallpaper in the passage-way and charred the woodwork of the doors, but were unable to enter the rooms. Had they done so, the whole of the top floor would have caught alight. Two engines from the central station answered the alarm and the outbreak was brought under control within a few minutes. Boarders could not occupy their rooms on the top floor for a considerable time, and the outbreak also made conditions in the rest of the hotel very uncomfortable.