A DEATH TRAP

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19843, 18 May 1927, Page 7

A DEATH TRAP

NO FIRE ESCAPES CORONER’S COMMENT ON FATAL BOARDINGHOUSE FIRE. [Per Press Association.] NAPIER, May 17. The inquest on the two victims of the Shakespeare Road boarding-house fire has concluded before Mr. R. W. Dyer, coroner. Robert Bruce Tenant, in evidence, said that he conducted the boardinghouse, in conjunction with his wife. They had thirteen boarders. On the night of the fire he was sleeping downstairs. He noticed the fire at about four o’clock, and rushed upstairs to warn a girl working for them. Webber’s room was upstairs facing the street. Robinson’s room was upstairs, at the back, facing the verandah. There were no fire escapes except a ladder at the back verandah, which was not a fixture. John Pearce Smith (owner) gave evidence that the /only means of escape was a ladder at the rear. He did not know of other fire escapes. The house was partially burnt down four years ago. He did not know what the inner partitions were made of. He told the architect to use non-inflammable material. Witness was sure that the fire started in a chimney. Part of the timber was included when the building was rebuilt. The old chimney was defective. Witness took no steps to see that fire escapes were provided. He was told that the boarding used in the interior was non-inflammable.

James A. Louis Hay, architect, who prepared the plans for the boardinghouse reconstruction four years ago, stated that no provisions were made for fire escapes on the plans. Witness mentioned the matter to Smith, who told him that the borough authorities would ask him to put them in, and said that he would do so when asked. The house was re-built round part of the old chimney. The partitions of the upstairs rooms were of Upson board, a composition of wood pulp, put in for economical reasons. The specifications were deposited at the offices of the Napier Borough Council and approved. Witness had not been instructed by Smith to put in non-inflammable material. "The finding will be the same in the case of each deceased,” said the coroner—“ That they were burnt to death in the destruction by fire of the Shakespeare Boarding-house in the early hours of May 2. I think the inquest has been full and complete. It seems to be a serious thing indeed that in the construction of a house like that no provision was made for fire escapes, beyond a ladder at the back, which, from the evidence, was apparently no good as a means of escape. Thus the staircase or tho windows were the only means of escape. The thing was a veritable death-trap. The architect says he drew the owner’s attention to the lack of fire escapes, and the owner said he would provide it when asked. Apparently he has never been called upon. Had there been fire escapes, so far as we can see, these two unfortunate men would not have lost their lives. It is a serious matter and one that requires immediate attention.”