TRAPPED BY FLAMES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26530, 4 August 1947, Page 6

TRAPPED BY FLAMES

MINER BURNED TO DEATH HOTEL GUESTS’ NARROW ESCAPE P.A. NEW PLYMOUTH, Aug. The charred remains of John Alex ander McKain, miner, of Ohura, were found in the wreckage of the Grano Hotel, Ohura, after fire destroyed the building containing 20 rooms and two shops early on Saturday morning. All the .other occupants escaped without injury, with the exception of G. King, aged 71 years, of Taumarunui, who suffered concussion and shock when he jumped from the first-floor balcony to the street below. The fire originated in a first-floor room occupied by D. Fitzgerald. Wakened about 3.45 a.m. by smoke, he left the room to investigate and when he returned seconds later he found flames shooting up the wall separating his room from that of McKain. He raised the alarm, and, as the occupants rushed for safety by the nearest available exits, flames burst from the windows and spread along the corridors and into the lower floor with a rapidity that gave the boarders no chance to gather their possessions. Cut off from the stairways, men clambered on to telephone line poles and veranda posts and slid to safety. By the time all the occupants except McKain were clear of the building the flames had spurted through the windows on both sides of the building and flared skyward to meet along the rooftop. With no fire brigade and only low pressure in the water mains it was not possible to do any more than organise a bucket brigade in an endeavour to save a nearby “ bach " and outbuildings. The flames, however. spread to an adjoining shop and residential building, which was destroyed. It was not until a check of the occupants was made that it was discovered that McKain was missing, but a search was then impossible. A police party combed the wreckage later in the morning, when McKain’s body was found on a wire mattress directly below where his room had been.