TWO ACCIDENTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 March 1939, Page 6

TWO ACCIDENTS

THICK SMOKE RESPONSIBLE. 1 MOTOR-TRUCK DESTROYED EY FIRE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) . WELLINGTON, This Day. Two accidents occurred within the space of a few minutes yesterday afternoon on a section of the main highway about a mile south of Paraparaumu, where smoke blowing across the road from a peat and flax fire reduced visibility to a minimum. The first involved two transport trucks, one of which was completely destroyed by fire, and the oilier two motorcars, one of which was badly damaged. The first accident occurred about 3.30 p.m. One truck, owned by Mr E. Lay, Hastings, and being drive)) south by Mr F. Pyne, Hastings. collided with another owned by the McFarlane Transport. Company, Levin, which was being driven north by Mr C. Fenwick, Levin. It went off the road, capsized, and burst into flames. The load on the truck included several drums of tallow which burst and burnt fiercely. The other truck was damaged, but it was able to proceed. Neither of the drivers was injured. A few minutes afterward a car being driven south by Mr B. R. Webster. 14 Hurman Street, Karori, was pulled up by one of the truck drivers, and as it •Jas moving off it came into collision with a car being driven north by Mr F. Clewer, Paraparaumu Beach. Mr Clewer’s car was badly damaged and Mrs Clewer received a fractured left ankle and a lacerated wound over.the right eye. After receiving attention from Dr D. O. Patterson, she was taken to Wellington Hospital by the Free Ambulance. Mr Clewer received cuts and bruises. Mrs Webster, who was a passenger in the other car with her husband, received slight bruises. The smoke from the fire covered the road for a distance of about threequarters of a mile, constituting a serious menace to traffic.