New Commercial Hotel Fire, Reefton, March 1968.

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DescriptionTowards the end of March 1968, the fire which gutted the New Commercial Hotel caused the tragic loss of two lives, Mr Ivan Shanks, a Government auditor and guest at the hotel,and Mr Gilbert Carter, who was a permanent boarder.
There were nine people in the building, including the manager, Mr. Eric Timpson, his wife and two children, and three permanent boarders and two guests.
One of the boarders, a pensioner, gave the alarm, but did not escape from the building.
Another boarder jumped from the top balcony, a height of about 20 feet, he received a twisted ankle.
The other occupants fled the building by fire escape. All were sleeping on the top story. They escaped in their night attire and were unable to save anything.
So intense was the heat from the blaze, the Reefton Fire appliance began smouldering and had to be moved.
The fire jumped the street and set alight to a grocery shop, breaking windows and causing paint to blister.
The nearby Hotel Reefton, a few yards along from the New Commercial, received only one broken window.
The nearest we can say is that it started sometime between 3 a.m. and 3.30a.m.
By 3.30 a.m. the building was a blazing inferno, the hotel was owned by Mr. L. B. de Roo, of Springs Junction.Date of PhotoMarch 1968Map^[1]ContributorMalcolm White

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Location (city or town)ReeftonEventFire

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Category TagHotels

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Date Created14th July 2020CommentsKen Meadowcroft Lived there when we built Smith's mill. Had some good night's there to.

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