Moth Airplane Flies to Burning Home

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 743, 16 August 1929, Page 16

Moth Airplane Flies to Burning Home

AID IN RESCUE WORK £5,000 FIRE DAMAGE When the Auckland airman, Mr. Douglas Mill, flew a Moth airplane to a burning house on an island in Manukau Harbour yesterday afternoon, he experienced an unexpetced adventure in what otherwise may have been an uneventful flight. The loss incurred in the fire .in a 12-roomed. two-storeyed residence on Puketutu Island is estimated by the owner, Mr. Harold Bull, to be £5,000, at least. Mr. Mill, with a companion, was in an airplane owned by the Air Survey and Transport Company. The airmen sighted the flames from the air, and immediately headed toward Puketutu. He landed the machine cleverly in a small paddock several hundred yards from the burning house. SMART TAKE-OFF An hour later, Mr. Mill, after a second attempt, managed a take-off in excellent fashion, in spite of the cramped ground area. Mr. and Mrs. Bull were in the grounds when they first saw smoke coming from an upper window about three o’clock. They found the fire to have a strong hold on a large section of the house.

On the mainland, residents at Mangere thought the fire was in the scrub, but they later saw the homestead was alight. No one was near enough by road to assist. The owners, handicapped by lack of an effective supply of water, hurriedly removed as much of the furniture as possible. A small portion was deposited outside, but it was eventually destroyed by the increasing heat

When Mr. Mill and his passenger landed, efforts were made to save outbuildings. The helpers formed a buc-

ket brigade and the garage, containing a car, the wash-house, the men’s room, sheds and the store-house were saved. The loss was covered to an extent by a policy with the South British Insurance Company. Mr. Bull said his loss was heavy. There were no fires in the house at the time. Electric heaters or equipment may have caused the outbreak. The homestead was wooden and was 25 years’ old. TIMELY HELP Mr. Bull considers that, had Mr. Mill and his companion not flown to the rescue, outbuildings would quickly have been Included in the destruction. The airmen gave assistance when none other was available. Puketutu has been farmed by the owner of the homestead for ten years. From Onehunga, it is about five miles down the Manukau, off Mangere. A low-lying roadway links it with the mainland.