DISASTROUS FIRE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4461, 1 September 1922, Page 2

DISASTROUS FIRE.

HOUSE TOTALLY DESTROYED. A fire broke out in the rear portion of the dwellinghouse in Wood Street owned and occupied by Mr W. Barclay, assistant engineer to the Pubhc Works Department, shortly after 3.15 p.m. on Wednesday. Tihe fire brigade responded promptly to the alarm, and with the help o>f Messrs Short Bros’. motor lorry quickly towel the prehistoric, or at. least pre-war, fire reel to the scene of the conflagration. Two leads of hose were quickly coupled up, but, although the water pressure was fair, the brigade was unable to save the dwelling, as by this time the fire, helped by a westerly breeze, was a burning mass, and the heat was intense. After oven an hour’s hard fighting the Brigade succeeded in getting the flames under control, but the house was completely gutted. When the fire broke out Mrs Barclay was out. visiting, and left everything as she thought secure. The origin of the fire remains a mystery.

Mr Barclay had only recently purchased the house, and he and Ms family are losers to a heavy extent, nothing being saved, and although insured for small amounts in the State Fire Office and N.Z. Insurance Company. the amount is quite inadequate for the loss sustained. Much of the furniture was brought from England by Mr Barclay, and this, together with personal effects and a fair sum of cash, makes the less almost irreparable.