FATAL FIRE AT NELSON.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 964, 27 November 1882, Page 3

FATAL FIRE AT NELSON.

A WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH. [per PRESS ASSOCIATION.] NELSON, Nov. 27. A fatal fire occurred yesterday afternoon in an old house oh the hill above Washington Valley, which caught fire in a manner unknown. The house was occupied by a man named Thomas Martin alias Rock Oohdy Twomy. His wife was better, known as Margaret Fitzsimmons whose former husband was in the 14th Regiment at Auckland. A young man named Spottiswnde and another" named James Moriarty were also living in the house- They were all in, and the men were* quite sober when the fire broke out, but the woman was drunk. On the alarm being given and assistance arriving, Martin told a constable that he did not know where his'wife was, but she might be upstairs.’ It was then impossible to gel upstairs. It transpired afterwards, however, that the woman was in the front room below. Moriarty says he tried to drag her out but she was helplessly drunk. He says he stayed till his hair caught fire. The house was completely destroyed, and the woman’s charred remains were afterwards found.