BURNED TO DEATH.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 20, 22 September 1915, Page 5

BURNED TO DEATH.

FATAL Flßic AT CHRISTCHURCH. Per Press .Association. Christchurch, September 22. A fatal fire occurred at Fendalton at ten o’clock last night, when a. new two storied bungalow in Idris Road was destroyed. The victims were Mrs Cookson, aged about 60, and her granddaughter, aged two years, the daughter of P. W. Freeman, surveyor, Mrs Cookson, who was a well-known resident, has been living with her son, J. B. Cookson, who left the house at seven o’clock, when everything was safe. The house was full of suffocating smoke when the neighbours discovered the blaze, but attempts were, made to remove the furniture. None of the helpers knew at that time that there was anybody inside the house. They had only been at work for a little time when the flames broke through with a roar and the whole building was enveloped. It was not till Mr and Mrs Freeman and Mr Cookson arrived that it was ascertained that the house was occupied. It was then much too late to attempt to effect a rescue. The origin of the outbreak is a mystery.