GAVE LIFE IN VAIN TO SAVE WIFE AND BABY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18011, 23 November 1926, Page 3

GAVE LIFE IN VAIN TO SAVE WIFE AND BABY.

BRAVE LONDON MAN WOULD ALLOW NO ONE ELSE TO RISK FIRE. (Special to the “Star.*’) LON’DON, October 4. Dashing into a burning house to almost certain death, a young man made an heroic but vain attempt to save his wife and baby on Saturday. He had already rescued two of his children, and waving back an employee with the words, “Get back, the fire is too fierce for anybody else,” rushed up a blazing staircase in an endeavour to reach those trapped above. The fire was at the premises of a basket-maker in Borough Road, S.E., and the victims were:— William Rooke, 32. Edith Rooke, 28 (his wife). Gladys Rooke, 6 weeks (their child) So fierce was the blaze that nothing but the shell of the building remained in half an hour. Firemen fought desperately to get into the house, clinging to the hastily-fixed hook ladders, their uniforms soaked with water to enable them better to withstand the heat. Escape in Flames. All their bravery was in vain, for it was impossible for any human being to succeed in the face of the roaring flames which shot out many yards across the road and scorched the fireOne of the motor escapes itself caught fire, but despite this a fireman still clung on in a final effort to break into the house. Young Mr Rooke. who is the son of the proprietor of the shop, displayed stirring heroism, lie was in the shop when the fire broke out; on the first floor were his mother and two of his children—Grace, aged 4, and Francis, aged 2—while his wife and the baby were in one of the top rooms. Rookc’s first thoughts were for three employees working in the basement. Having warned them to escape, he ran upstairs and brought down the two children. His mother had meantime been helped to safety by another employee, John Trover, of Chesney Street, S.W. Last Thought for Baby. Then, despite the fact that the staircase was in flames, Rooke made his final rush to the upper jiart of the house. When the wicker baskets stored on the premises had burned themselves out, the firemen discovered the charrer* remains of the three victims. Rooke appeared to have collapsed across a chair, while the petition of his wife’s body showed that she had tried to protect the baby from the flames.