ALARMING FIRE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2539, 18 October 1888, Page 2

ALARMING FIRE.

(|IV TBI/EHK.M'It.— riIKSS ASSOCIATION.) Chhistciiuuch, Wednesday. A MOST disastrous tire occurred at the Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum. Tho conflagration is still raging finrcoly, and it is impossible to say what amount of damage will ultimately have to be recorded, but the whole western wing lias already boon destroyed which involves a, loss, of thousands of iioiuids worth of public property. The place is about throe niili-s i.ut of town on the Lincoln Road. and information as to the progress of tho lire only reaches town at intervals. The tiro broke nut shortly before 11 a.m. in the women's ward, on the western wins. This ii in the older portion of the building, which, t" a large extent, has been added to from time to time. When the last news reached town, it was doubtful whether the new Recreiti.m Hill, npaned quite lately, would be saved. Latf.h. The fire at Sunnyside was practically extinguished by 3 o'clock. The city (ire engine Delude was the (ir>t to play on t!-e lire from an adjoining creek. About half-an-hour after the alarm, the railway engines which had been telephoned for, got to work from tho underground tank in front of the buildings ; ten minutes after the other city engine got into play. A strong northoast wind rendered the work of the firemen difficult, but they acted with the greatest gallantry, as did the men from the Addington workshops'. The tire began in the attic over tho C ward. When the roof fell a hole

was observed in the chimney passing through it, and it is mippo-ed that sparks found their way through this : The chimney caught lire about 8.30 a.m. but it was supposed to have been extinguished. The arrangements in the Asylum for prevention appear to have been defective. There is a hand tire engine in the Asylum, but it is not powerful enough, and no'use was made of it. The fire boxes were not of much greater service, one was discovered to bo full of blacking, and another was empty, but locked and keyless. The whole of the upper p irtion of the female department was gutted while theupper (Lor in most places was destroyed. The damage to the lower flat is mostly by water. The portions burned or otherwise damaged are known as; wards A, B, 0, and 1). The attendants' dining-room is gutted. The beautiful hall, which was only recently opened, has escaped with a soaking, and the organ therein has escaped uninjured. All the furniture in the lower portion of tho building was destroyed, and female attendants are reported to have lost most of their clothing and belongings. It is to the credit of the Oas Company's men that they were first to arrive from town and turn off the gas from the endangered portion of the building. The value of the part of the buildings burned is variously estimated, but it is probably little less than £12,000. The wing gutted was two-storeyed, of concrete, with a slate roof, partly built thirteen years ago, and tho ni-wer portion nine years ago. There were no partitions in the upper portion. Naturally the patients were a source of most terrible anxiety when it was known a lire had occurred at the asylum. It is, satisfactory to relate that in this instance no panic occurred, and that tho patients were got safely away without mishap. They were 2:30 in number, and were safeiy stowed away in tho laundry across the lawn. Tho men's ward was not attacked, fn tho confusion and excitement, the head attendant was in great uncertainty us to the fate of all. two were missing for a time, but at list complete assurance came of the safety of everyone. This fortunate result is due to the cool unselfish way in which the attendants, particularly the women, did their duty at the tryinK time, in tace of the disturbing fact that several of them had lost their all. Arrangements have been made for temporarily housing the female patients in the old immigration barracks at Addingtnll. People living in the neighbourhood were also prcuipt i" their olfers of assistance and plenty of accommodation was ready and waiting.