FIRE AT SEA

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19133, 30 September 1936, Page 4

FIRE AT SEA

DISASTER AVERTED OUTBREAK IN ORMONDE ORDEAL DESCRIBED How the destruction by fire at sea of the Orient liner Ormonde, with 600 souls on board, was averted by "the foresight and precaution of the commander, Captain C. G. Thome, was related in Wellington by the successful New Zealand novelist, John Guthrie, who was a passenger oh the Otmonde from England to Australia. "If the fire had broken out on the long ocean passage . between Colombo and Eremantle,. at.night,, in. a rough sea,.it would have been hell~-absolute hell,'' he said. "Even as it.was,"if the ship had carried on toward" Sydney, the consequences might have been serious. But the captain ran no risks. He took every possible precaution and put into Twofold Bay, where ' the fire was extinguished by the crew, aided by firemen rushed down by motor car from Sydney. * ' . THE FIRST INDICATION "We were supposed to reach Sydney on September 24. The fire broke out on the morning before that, in the forward hold. It was first noticed at about 8.30 o'clock. We were all sitting down at breakfast, in the 'Usual way. The first indication was that three of the crew came clattering down the stairs, but no one took particular notice of them. Half a dozen more followed. Then it was noticed that the floor was growing warm underfoot, and the whisper went round that there was a fire on board. It was generally taken for granted that it was a minor fire.—probably in the cook's galley.

"There were two ladies sitting at a table about 10yds. away from me. Suddenly their table rose up 6iu. under their noses. The heat had buckled 1 the steel plates of tho floor into two.parallel waves. 'We can't eat our breakfast here,' said one of the women, and they walked out. Although the cook's galley was closed, the stewards continued to serve the meal from the" side-tables. Breakfast went on as usual:

"Later the passengers stole on deck, and went forward to look into the hold. Officers and men in fire-masks were at work opening up the hold. Some coir fibre in the cargo was said to be on fire. Smoke was simply pouring out. I believe seven of the men did go down the hold, but were overcome by the' smoke. I did not myself see them' brought on deck. LIFEBELTS DONNED "The order was circulated by word of mouth for the passengers to put on their lifebelts and take their boat-sta-tions. It was all done quite quietly. The siren was not and we were told there was' no cause for alarm. There was no panic. "The captain came down and_ spoke very reassuringly. He said, 'This boat drill is only a rehearsal.' As soon as he realised how serious it was, he put into Twofold Bay, to the town of Eden. The liner, which was about five miles out at sea, ran well into, the bay;and anchored. Had it been necessary to leave the Ormonde, it would have been quite easy to reach shore without loss of We. The sea was calm; it was broad daylight and the boats were swung out ready for such an emergency. "The floor of the forward saloon, where it had buckled, had split, and had to be torn up. The forward hold was flooded and a good deal of damage was done by the water. Many of the cabins were smoked out. The crew had the fire well under control, and there was no danger, as it was only a hop, skip and jump to shore. A cinema film was shown in the evening, and later the passengers went down quietly to bed with a renewed sense of security. A SECOND OUTBREAK "At 5 o'clock in the morning there was another outbreak. The holds were opened and the burning coir was dumped over the side. Shortly afterward firemen from Sydney boarded the ship with all the latest, fire-fighting appliances and extinguished the fire. The crew had brought the fire under control, but the firemen put it out. "Although the extent of the damage had not been estimated when I left, it appeared fairly extensive, yet outwardly the ship did not seem to have suffered. We left Twofold Bay at about 3 in the afternoon and reached Sydney early next morning."