BURNED TO GROUND

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 17, 29 May 1939, Page 5

BURNED TO GROUND

OHOPE HOUSE DESTROYED

NOTHING SAVED A fire of unknown origin completely destroyed the house of Mr Aubrey O'Rourke, and all its at Ohope Beach in the early hours of Sundaj' morning; Nothing was saved and Mr and Mrs O'Rourke, their iour young children, and two guests only had time to escape in their night attire. About 1.30 a.m. Mr O'Rourke woke to find the house full of smoke. Within a minute of rousing the others and getting outside the house svas ablaze from end to end. Because of the lateness oi the hour very few people knew what was happening, and only about a dozen gathered round the blazing house from which, fanned bv the strong long tongues of flames stretched out.. Fortunately the wind was from the direction of Mr Roy Butler's home door: otherwise this house woiihl probably have caught fire also. There were no fire fighting appliances available and the lire had such; a strong hold that the spectators could only stand by helplessly. An exciting moment came as the 400 gal lon tank fell when its supports were burned through and a cascade of dfiling water swirled down the concrctc path to the road below. Nobody vvas scalded. At dawn the structure w»s still burning. It was then seen that the flames had scorched a patch of young native bush in a neighbouring section Mr O'Rourke is the owner of the house which carries insurances, but the amounts were not available night. He had just completed various concreting work, and had laid the foundations for extensions to house, which is a fairly old one.

The homeless people spent the re mainder of the night in Mr But

er's house