FIRE AT RONGOTEA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 702, 23 December 1909, Page 3

FIRE AT RONGOTEA.

DURHAM HOUSE & SOME SHOPS DESTROYED.

A BIG BLAZE,

Rongotea was aroused at an early hour yesterday (about 2.30 o’clock) by an alarm of fire, which was discovered in the back of Durham House Boardinghouse. The flames had a good hold on the building when first seen, but even then they might have been extinguished had the water supply been sufficient. The main building was enveloped in flames, and the building next door rapidly caught. Most of the contents were saved, but the buildings were totally destroyed. The fire commenced in the washhouse of Durham House, spread to the main building, thence to the premises of Mr 0. Reid (painter), Mr C. P. Wood (photographer), James Penny (tailor), and the large grain crushing and wood and coal sheds owned by Mr Carl Anderson. Nearly all Rongotea witnessed the conflagration, and many willing hands saved a much wider spread of the fire. It was with great difficulty that the offices of the Dairy Company were saved, and at one stage of the fire Mr Geertson’s private residence was threatened. Happily, a north wind was blowing, which took the flames in the direction where least damage could be done. Had a west or east wind prevailed a much larger area would have been destroyed. The boardinghouse was owned by Mr W. Little and occupied by Mrs Good. The insurances are not yet available.