FIRES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXV, Issue 76, 7 April 1913, Page 5

FIRES.

EXCITING TIME AT' AUCKLAND. [Peb Pivess Association.] Auckland, April 7. A two-storied wooden building at the corner of' Victoria and Federal streets, and, occupied by Miss Elizabeth Smith as a boardinghouse, was discovered to be on fire early on Sund«ay : morning by the watchman on the Fire Tower. The brigade arrived smartly. Dense smoke obscured >the Victoria street frontage. A cry was roused that several persons were at the upstairs windows, and ladders were quickly requisitioned and six boarders were brought safely to the street. It was reported that a man and woman were still in the building. The man was found in "aii upper floor unconscious, having been 1 overcome by smoke, but revived soon after being removed to safety. A fireman found the woman on a staircase, which she had been descending when her escape was cut off by the fire. She had collapsed on the landing. She was carried out and soon recovered. None of the boarders were much the worse for the experience except a coloured man named Johnson who cut his hand bddly when broking a window. One of the firemen, named Bradley, assisting in the work of rescue was overcome by smoke, and some difficulty was experienced in locat- . ing him, but he was finally got out little the worse for the experience. The brigade got the fire extinguished in about ten minutes. Tho dnm--7* age was not great, most of the furniture having been removed on the previous day. The fire is believed to have originated in the kitchen and spread up the staircase, cutting off the people who were sleeping upstairs.