HUINGA HOME GUTTED

Taranaki Daily News, 19 January 1935, Page 6

HUINGA HOME GUTTED

FIRE DESTROYS HOMESTEAD. NARROW ESCAPE OF OCCUPANTS. Fire completely gutted the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Loving, Huinga, about 11 o’clock on Thursday night, and apart from a few clothes hastily gathered as the occupants were jolted from sleep to frantic activity nothing was saved. Mr. and Mrs. Loving, who were alone in the house, escaped by a window from a building already well in the grip of the .flames. The building, owned by Mr. Loving, was formerly the homestead of the late Mr. Alf. Bayly. It was an eight roomed dwelling, insured for £650 in the State Fire Office, and the furniture was insured for £250. The first intimation the occupants received of the danger was when the smoke in the bedroom and the roar of the flames woke them at 11 p.m. When they retired at about 9 o’clock there was no sign of anything amiss, but two hours later the fire, which seemed to be centred in the ceiling, had a strong hold, and they could do nothing but escape as quickly as they could. Hastily seizing a few clothes, Mr. and Mrs. Loving made for the window and climbed out. There they could see that the flames seemed to be working downwards from the ceiling, and within half an hour the building was a mass of charred beams and smoking embers.

At midnight the blaze seemed to have burned itself out, and Mr. and Mrs. Loving accepted the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Groshinsky at a neighbouring farm house. When he returned to the scene at about 5 a.m., however, Mr. Loving found that in his absence the wash-house and outbuildings had also been demolished, in spite of the fact that there was no breeze when he left and none when he returned.