VICTIMS OF FIRE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20418, 26 May 1928, Page 12

VICTIMS OF FIRE.

A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY. SEVEN LIVES LOST. MAN AND SIX CHILDREN. BURNED TO DEATH IN COTTAGE. (Peb United Pbess Association.) HAWERA, May 25. A shocking fire tragedy occurred at midnight at Ararata, a farming district not far from Hawera, a settler and six (Children being burned to death. The names of the deceased are:— ALFRED WOLLER, aged 40. RUGBY WOLLER 13. ELLEN WOLLER. 11. RAY WOLLER. 10. ALFRED WOLLER. 8. DAPHNE WOLLER, 6. CHARLES PARNELL, 13. The mother and two other children spent the night at Hawera. The scene of the tragedy was a fourroomed cottage, three rooms of which were used as bedrooms. Wollcr had a family of eight altogether, the wife and the two youngest children living at Hawera. The parents of the boy Parnell also reside there. Peter Wollcr, a brother of the deceased, lived in a tent a couple of chains from the cottage. He was awakened at abont midnight by the sound of crackling timber, and saw the cottage abaze, the back portion having been already destroyed. The flames were so fierce and the smoke was so dense that he was unable to get inside. He tried the front door handle, but it was too hot to touch. He saw no sign of life. A high southerly wind was blowing, and the eot■tage, which stood on the edge of a hill, became a veritable furnace as soon as it caught fire. A neighbour visited the family last evening, and saw the house at 11 o’clock. There was then no light visible, nor were there any signs of fire. Among the smouldering embers this morning the remains of three of the bodies were' seen; the others arc buried under the debris. The deceased Wollcr was in the habit of getting up in the middle of the night and making himself a cup of tea, as he did not enjoy good health. There is nothing to indicate how the fire occurred. The father usually slept In the front room with the girl Daphne, the two other girls occupying the back bedroom. In the other front room were two beds, occupied by two boys, while the third room was occupied by Parnell. The neighbour who visited, the family said that when he left the cottage shortly after 7 o’clock a good fire was going in the range. The only light in the kitchen was that of a kerosene lamp on the table. Woller ad a small farm, and sometimes did odd jobs in the neighbourhood. The remains of all the children have been found. Judging by the position of the bodies, one of the girls and Parnell had moved. Their bodies were found just off the beds, but the rest were lying as they slept. Mrs Woller, mother of five of the children who perished in the flames, has teen coming to Hawera periodically for a considerable time for medical treatment. She suffered from a. nervous affection of the left arm induced by milking in order to help her husband. It was owing to this trouble that a boy had to be employed to help on the farm. Usually Mrs Woller brought only the baby with her; but this week she had also the next child, which needed treatment. But for that fact the fire would have claimed another victim. Recently Mr Woller made a remarkable recovery from a serious illness, and was just starting to make headway milking a small herd for his brother.