The Wellington Fire.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 March 1922, Page 3

The Wellington Fire.

FURTHER. PARTICULARS.

Further particulars of the fire or Maurice Terrace, Weßingtou, on Satui'1 day morning which destroyed 11 resij deuces, states : HOW THE EIRE STARTED. The fire seemed to have started in -Airs Raines’s house, through an accident, it is understood, to an oil stove. Smoke was seen issuing first out of the chimney at the rear, and then the flames burst out. Among the first to see it were U’o students and cadets residing at ihe Donbank Y.M.C.A. Hostel (at one time I he residence of the late Hon. Jolm I)ul hie), find tlie danger was immediately realised. There .are over a hundred boarders ai Donbank, and Ha ro was a rush over to assist and do whatever could he done. Li the meantime the fire was spreading through the house rapidly, and the Donbank boarders wore .assisting tv get outside all the furniture they could. I Tlie sloping gardens in front of the I rather close-packed terrace of houses I were soon covered with furniture of all I kinds—from tods, tables, and pianos to I the lighter articles, such as pictures I and hooks. Unfortunately kapock mat- I tresses were thrown out also among I the furniture, and the intense heat I from the flames kindled t! ;e kapok, and

, most of the furniture was burnt be--1 fore it could be carried further to ! safety on The Terrace itself. Some arI tides—couches and chairs—wort? actually burning as they were' being moved, and some bad to be dropped en route. Soon The Terrace and the rear gardens of liousOs and the waste land to the rear of Maurice terrace had their little piles of furniture here and there, with people round them like refugiesc in the war area. .Meanwhile all the occupants of the burning or endangered bouses were pouring out in a high state of distress and excitement. Women were screaming and children crying. Two little children were discovered still asleep by some of the Donbank boys, and pulled out to safety from a burning building just in time. It was a scene of indescribable confusion ; people crossing cadi other’s tracks and often bringing out tlie useless article and forgetting tlie valuable. Among the many tragedies of the fire was the loss by a ncwly-mari tied couple, who only the evening before bad arrived back from their honeymoon, of all their belongings. A distracted mother whose litdlc children were missing found them at last wandering in Dixon Street, some distance from the fire. An elderly hvfly (Mrs Morrison 1, mother-in-law of Mr Cork ill who, since her arrival from Home, lias been seriously ill, had to he carried out of her

burning house. GREAT WORK OF FIRE BRIGADE

All this was happening in a very few minutes, for the tire spread literally like the whirlwind. When the brigade arrived they could do little at first without water. The first thing to do was to tap tlie available supply, and

this they got from t : 'o Kelhitrn high

level system, the hose wriggling ovoi the hill past tin* edge of the .Mount street cemetery like a snake. That line of hose was all that lay between the bulk of The Terrace and destruction. A lead was also taken down to Willis street, but tln> pressure was too poor to do. much more than pour on the burning embers. All that wiis left of Maurice terrace was now gaunt chimney stacks, quivering under heat

so in tens- as to be iGIt across The Terrace, and amass of fiercely-burn-ing embers, hot-water boilers and coppers steaming on the ground, and gas pipes burning from broken ends all the nay along to each hour*?. Rig crowds

a 1 gathered around the houses ad-

orning the corner of Mount street and IcKcirde terrace. The great danger .as that, unless supply of water mild be speedily obtained, the fire

would work right down Mount street and then hack along The Terrace. This possibility was at once seen by Superintendent Tait when he arrived on tlm scone with two inachirfes, and one engine was immediately sent hack to tiie Central Station to s.vure more fir -

fighting appliance*, and to arrange for a concentrated pressure of water to Be obtained from Kelhurn, which gets its water from the Karori reservoir.

j As speediily as could he arranged, | certain valves were cut off in Kelhurn [to ensure the highest possible pressure | being maintained, and at i). if) a.m., a lead of hose was brought down to j Melveuzie terrace from Kelhurn parade at the hack of Victoria College. This length of hose measured about 1500 feet, and it had to he laid over the lull on which die Roman Catholic Cemetery is situated. With this one I uni of lios-e and a p-essure of water which in the circumstances was not as strong ns desired, the brigade manfully set to the task of saving Mount street and the majority of the houses in McKenzie terrace from being wiped out. That tiie task was completed with success was a striking tribute to the strenuous efforts which the brigadesiucii ■( xeided (comments the “Post”). Only one house in .McKenzie terrace was destroyed, and another was hadlv score- ed.