Hotel Eastbourne Gutted By Fire

Chronicle (Levin), 15 January 1949, Page 7

Hotel Eastbourne Gutted By Fire

preas Assooiation)

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WELLINGTON, Jan. 14. The - Hotel Eastbourne, a twostoreyed briek and wooden building was gutted by lire shovtlv before noon today. The alarm was given by a rnaid working 0°- the second floor wTho -saw smoke and cinders eoniing up fr.6m below. The fire spread rapidly and the flames had broken through the roof before the brigade arrived. None 9! the10 guests, including visitors from many parts of New Zealand, saved much of their beion-gings and inany were lueky to escape unharmed. One two-year-old girl was asleep on the second .floor and ivas carried out in her nightgown. One man escaped in liis pyjamas. In fclte' confusion two or three women carried out empty suitcases. It is ' understood that the insuranee on the hotel was £6000, but the owner, Mr. G. H. Clark, stated that the replacement value would be about £25,000. No reliable estimate of the ioss sustained by the guests could be made today although it is known that some of lliem Iost considerable sums of monev among their persoual ell'ects. Bcsides the 10 guests staying in the hotel over tJie New Year holiday period permanent guests, who reside there duriug the winter months and leave their heavv ' baggage stored in the hotel during the summer, were repofted to have lost considerable quautities of valuable belongings. llotel Eastbourne was built in 192.) and later added to. Mr. and Mrs. Clark took over the proprietorship about 18 months ago. Work in the hotel was proceeding normally wlien the fire \vas discovered. The tablcs- in the dining room were set for lunch and routine housework was being done. About a dozen guests, among them a girl age-1 18 months, were indoors when the "fire started. The child was hurr-iediy roused from her morning nap by hei mother and carried outside. Two other guests- were also asleep in tlieir room when they were awakened by shouts, and escaped. Tlicy were ultimately supplied with elothing by neighbours. One elderlv woman refused to vacate the burning building with out her budgerigar and at lengtn tbe birdcage apd the owner emerge l from a side door a few seconds aliead of a great billow of smoke. All the guests iuterviewed paid tribute to the cool way in which Mrs. Clark supervised the clearing of the guests from the blazing building. When she had made sure all were safely outside Mrs. Clark got the garden hose and attached it to aii outside tap, but 'tinui the fire had sucli a liold thajt her'elTorts were futile. At tlie heightf of the fir" shortly after 110011 tlie flames were leaping to a he.ight of 40 i'eet -thrpugli the wrecked yoof, and. dens'e" clouds of smoke rising high ,ggaintst tlie busli clad hillside could be easily secn in Wellington. The building was well ablaze by the timo the first fire engine arrived. Tlie superintendent of the Eastbourne Brigade was away 011 holiday as1 we're several of the v.ohmteer ' briga'desmen. Eourth Oliicer N. Bennett was the only yian on. the ei^gia|e u^en^it(iarrivpd. J.'u\ 'within k Mewtmimite^^t\^"5Sthei' fiien ■were 011 tlie s^eaie,. oiiq ,Mbe)|f| Mr. J. Drummond, wh§>-.waTs • tllS- iii'Stf supefin i tendent of tlie brigade 25 years ago. ,A . telephonc call. was made to ihe Day's , Bay Brigade wliich answerod the call ; with one engine. Assistan^e was -given by many c-ouncil eniployees, including several Eastbourne bus drivers. Conimenting later on the difiieulty oi' calling menibers of tlie voluuteer brigade, Mr. Bennett said there was nu siren or alarm system which could be used for that purpose and that all the men had to be telephoned individually. "A\re opened the front door to be confronted by a mass of flames roaring uo the staircase," said Mr. Bennett, who supervised the fire-fighting eil'orts. "The heat was terrific and forced us to withdraw. We then attacked the blaze from an upstairs window, but tlie lire had too great a h old. Buioke was ; pouring out of tlie roof as I went to ge! : the lire engine just after tlie alarln was given. " ■ The Eastbourne Borough Council was

setting up a benevolent' fund for the people who had lost lieavily in the iire, said the Town C'lerk, and general manager of the Borougli (HMr. J. P. McDavitt) touight. Oue donation of £10 given anonymously had already been received by tlie council. Several englisli scttlers' ncwly arrived in New Zealand had also been staying in the hotel.