TWO LIVES LOST

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3633, 3 May 1927, Page 3

TWO LIVES LOST

IN BOARDINGHOUSE FIRE

YOUNG WOMAN INJURED

Napier, May 2

Two men were burnt to death in a fire at 4.30 this morning when a boardinghouse of 21 rooms in Shakespeare Road was totally destroyed. A woman was injured through jumping from the first lloor.

The names of the two men burnt to death are:—

John Webber, aged 50 years, a single man, employed on the wharf. William Robinson, aged 30, a single man, who left a Home boat recently, and who has been unemployed. The injuries of Miss Anne Spiers, aged 20, are not serious, and she is now in the hospital. Webber, who slept in the front of the building, rushed to the rear, where the fire started, and fell off the stair landing into the flames. Robinson was apparently suffocated in his sleep. Miss Spiers jumped through a broken window on the first floor to the pavement.

Conflicting’ stories are told concerning the steps taken to warn the inmates, who numbered fifteen. All lost everything, and had but time to escape in their night attire. One lodger lost £BO and another £4O.

There was no wind at the time, but the building, which was only a few years old, burnt with remarkable rapidity, and was soon a mass of flames. Both the Napier and Port Ahuriri Fire Brigades attended, and good work was done in preventing the spread of the flames. A shop on one side escaped with damage by smoke and water, and a residence on the other side was burnt on one side.

The water pressure was quite inadequate to deal with flic outbreak, and this was due to the early cutting off of the. telephonic communication to the waterworks, thus preventing a (high pressure supply being brought into use. The arrival of the Napier Brigade with a Dennis pump immediately made available a splendid pressure, and this accounted for the outbreak being confined to the original building. The telephone wires were melted and the system disorganised. Apart from the adjoining premises the other buildings were not in close proximity, but the absence of water at one time suggested that the outbreak must extend. The bodies of the two victims were recovered after a diligent search. The property was occupied by Miami Mrs. R. Bruce, and it was owned by Mr. J. Smith. It was insured in the Atlas Office for £IOOO, and the furniture was insured in the same office for £BSO.