A FATAL FIRE.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 June 1922, Page 4

A FATAL FIRE.

BLAZE IN BOARDING-HOUSE. BRAVERY OF A CONSTABLE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, June 1& A fire, attended with fatal results, occurred in the early hours of this morning in the Sonoma Boarding-house, Grey Street. The victim was Nathaniel Hayden, an elderly boarder occupying a room on the top floor. The brigade arrived at 1.20 o’clock and the upper floor was then in the grip of the flames. Hearing there was a man in a room on the upper floor they put up the ladder and a fireman entered the room. He was overcome by the fumes and became unconscious. Constable Welson ran up the ladder, rescued the unconscious fireman and returned to the room. He was himielf overcome by the smoke and had to bo got out in an unconscious condition 'by Driver Pardy. Recovering be made a third entry into the roojn, this time dis-« covering and removing the badly-burned body of the victim of the fire. Life was then extinct. There were about ten other boarders, all of whom escaped injury, though some had to mane their escape in their night attire. Fireman Thompson, who was over j come ‘by the smoke, and Constable Welson both recovered from their temporary unconsciousness without ill effects.. The house was a two-storey building occupied by Mrs. Rae. Her furniture was insured for £2OO. The dead man was a ship’s carpenter, a native of England, with no relatives in New Zealand.

The damage was confined to the upper floor.