EXPLOSION IN GRATE

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1929, Page 12

EXPLOSION IN GRATE

GREY LYNN SENSATION SITTING-ROOM WRECKED. FATHER AND SON INJURED. A terrific explosion in the sitting room grate at the residence of Mr. Samuel Agnew, 14, Seibourne Street, Grey Lynn, about 8 o’clock on Sunday evening, wrecked the room and blew out the stove in tho kitchen adjoining. There were five people in the room, including Mr. Agnew and his son, Mr. Stanley John Agnew, aged 26, both of whom were taken to the Auckland hospitstl suffering from injuries", to the head through being struck by flying furniture. It is believed that the explosion was caused by the firing" of a detonator in the coal (savs tho New Zealand Herald).

Only slight injuries were sustained by the other .three in the room, although Mr. Basil Ratcliffe, who lives next door and was visiting the Agnews, was hurled across the room, through a doorway and to tho far end of another room. The room was reduced to a state of chaos, and debris tvas also littered all over the kitchen from the stove. Residents a considerable distance away were startled by the report, which shook houses in the vicinity. The fire had been alight for about two hours before the explosion occurred, and during that' time it had been fed with coal from a bucket near the grate. Fuel from tho sack from which the bucket was filled had been used only once before, a fresh supply having been secured on the previous day. A DEAFENING REPORT. After the evening meal those in the house went to the sitting room to spend the evening. The room is at the end of a short hallway and. from it door’s open to the kitchen at the back of the house and a bedroom at one side . The grate was in the centre of the/wall dividing the room from the kitchen, and the brickwork for the fireplace also served for the stove in the kitchen. ' , In front of the fire and about sft. from it Miss R. Agnew and Mr. Stanley Agnew were seated at a table playing draughts. Mr. Agnew, senior, was in a chair before the fire and slightly to one side of. it, his son having his back to the grate. Mr. Ratcliffe and another' young man were also in the room. Mrs. Agnew was in the kitchen, and Miss D. Agnew in the bathroom adjoining. No coal had been put on the fire for some time. Suddenly there was a deaf-

cning report and the whole house shook as though an upheaval had occurred beneath' it. Before anyone could move, the grate was hurled in every direction. The heavy cast“ iron of which it was made was shattered to small pieces and blown against the walls like so much shrapnel. MAN LIFTED OFF FEET. Mr. Ratcliffe, who was standing near Mr. Agnew’s chair, was lifted off • his feet and was hurled against the bedroom dooiway several feet away. The force of the explosion carried him through the doorway after ho had struck the framework, and then threw him aganist a dressing table at the far end of the room about 12ft. from the door. One of his shoes was ripped, but beyond a severe shaking’ and several "bruises he received no injury. On rushing to the sitting room Mrs. Agnew and her daughter were met with ai° appalling scene. The tall mantelpiece of heavy wood. had. been, lifted, completely from its place and lay on the floor with Mr. Stanley Agnew lying- near it. Mr. Agnew’s chair had been 9 hurled away from the fireplace, and he was bleeding from a cut on the head. With diinculty the heavy mantelpiece was moved and the young man was carried outside unconscious. Miss R. Agnew was slightly cut and was suffering from shock. The other young man escaped almost unhurt. Thb room was completely wrecked. Bricks, pieces of iron, woodwork and the remains of ornaments were strewn everywhere and the unfortunate people were half-blinded by smoke and dust. Chairs were shattered and a large clock which had been in the family’s possession for 30 years was lying broken on the floor. Numerous gramophone records were broken, the machine itself being smashed. The floor was litteied with debris, and nearly every ornament in the room was broken. Pictures were torn from the walls and others remained at various angles with the glass shattered. KITCHEN STOYE DI ■■ A ED. Part of one chair was lifted into th# air and it landed on. the table. Things were swept from the table in every direction, and its surface was then piled high with articles from the walls, cupbo'ards and sideboard. Where the fire had been was a geat gap framed with broken bricks and mortar. There was little sign of the coal previously burning brightly in the grate, but pieces were later found in the bedroom and hallway. So severe was the explosion that its force swept the top off the kitchen stove on the other side of the chimney and dislodged the stove from its place. Pieces of cast iron were thrown about the kitchen which was littered with ashes from the stove fireplace. People living about .300 yards from the Agnews’ house were startled by the explosion, which was described as being like the sound of a heavy gun being fired’ Neighbours rushed from their homes to see smoke issuing from the sitting room window. One of the daughters ran screaming from the house.

Within a few moments there was--ft large crowd outside the gate, but no one would venture inside. Finally, M*. K. Hoyt, manager for Mr. W. H. McKinney, chemist, went inside and dressed as best he could the wounds of Mr. AgneW' and his son. The two were then taken to the hospital. Mr. Agnew was sent home after receiving treatment, but his son was detained, although his condition >s not serious. . The contents of the house are insuic for Fl4O in the New Zealand Tnsuiance Company.