FOXTON FIRE THEORIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 766, 12 September 1929, Page 6

FOXTON FIRE THEORIES

NEIGHBOUR’S KNOWLEDGE OF HOUSE

WINDOWS WERE LARGE From Our Own Correspondent PALMERSTON N., Today. i The nearest neighbour of the late j Mr. and Mrs. Wright, who were' killed in the tragic fire at Himitangi; last week, Mrs. King, is convinced that the bedrooms in the burned house opened into the living room. She used to visit the Westlake home two or three times a week and knew the house thoroughly, having several times helped Mrs. Wright with housework. On one occasion the children had been playing in their bedroom, jumping in and out of the window, which was a large one, extending almost to the floor. Mrs. King remarked: "What a fine window!" Mrs. Wright replied:: “It would be a good exit in case of a fire.” The previous share-milker had asked Mr. Westlake to put a door in the rear of the building, but this had not been done. Possibly, however, Mr. Westlake had had the window made large, realising that the place would he more or less of a death trap in the case of fire. Mrs. King said all the windows could be opened. She was possibly Mrs. Wright’s only visitor, having been a girlhood friend. The lean-to rooms had been very roughly constructed, with no ceilings. There were large cracks in the walls. In Mrs. King’s opinion once it caught alight the place would burn with great intensity, owing to the draught. When asked how she accounted for swedes and benzine tins having been found near Mr. Westlake’s body, in the centre of the living room, Mrs. King said they had been short of buckets at the farm. Mr. Westlake had been in the habit of picking up benzine tins discarded by Maoris, and of taking them home for buckets. He was particularly fond of vegetables. If he had gone to Bainesse on the night of the fire his way home would lead him through a paddock of swedes. He possibly pulled two or three of these. He quite likely put them down when he was attempting to strike a light. Mr. Westlake rode a horse on his night outings. Mrs. King said she was possibly the last woman to speak to Mrs. Wright, as she saw her only a few days prior to the tragedy. She had then made mention of going to Foxton to make some purchases. “I shall not like going back to my home now,” concluded Mrs. King. “It will be very lonely out there.”