HOSPITAL BUILDING AFIRE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 47, 19 November 1926, Page 12

HOSPITAL BUILDING AFIRE

PATIENTS SAFELY REMOVED By 'l’elegbzph.—Press association. Rotorua, November id. At 7.20 p.in. a ure broke out at the King George V Hospital in the vicinity of the No. 2 Ward, where thirty child patients were lying. The hie commenced in an annexe, where a motliei witu twin babies, five hours old, was housed. In a few moments the wards were enveloped by smoke. The staff splendidly ordered the retreat and removed every patient without a mishap. The fire brigade promptly ran a lead through the wards and attacked .the fire from the rear with a powerful water supply, and removed the danger from the building, which is of the flimsiest description. There are four parallel wards, running off the central corridor, wherein are the operating theatre, the X-ray plant, and the dispensary, and offices. Had the fire broke through the roof nothing could have saved the block. The staff highly praised the work of the brigade. The main corridor is 500 feet long, with a closed ceiling, with felted sacking covered with ruberoid. The flames scorched the woodwork fe 10 feet on either side of the outbreak, but were choked down under the intensity of the smoke, which enveloped the wards and hung in the roof. AU the patients removed from the wards were returned without a mishap. Bv midnight no ill-effects were suffered. The cause of the fire was a defective chimney. CONDEMNED HOUSE DAMAGED. By Telegraph.—press association Taumarunui, November 18. At the meeting of the Borough Council on Tuesday night it was decided that an old eight-roomed boardhouse at Matapuna must be demolished, as it was considered to be in an unsound and dangerous condition. Strange to relate a fire broke out in this building, which was unoccupied, at 3 o’clock this morning. The brigade was quickly on the scene and succeeded in getting the fire under control. The building was badly damaged. It is owned by Miss Roach, of Auckland. The insurances are not yet available.