STEAMER ON FIRE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 7, 6 December 1926, Page 7

STEAMER ON FIRE.

OUTBREAK AMONG REFRIGERATORS.

MEN OVERCOME BY FUMES,

FIREMAN’S BRAVE RESCUE WORK

MELBOURNE, Dec. 5. The steamer Idomeneus, en route from Sydney to London, caught. fire, the flames being extinguished before she reached Melbourne. While the vessel was being unloaded at Melbourne the fire broke out afresh in refrigerators packed with frozen mutton. Before the fire brigade arrived volunteers attempted to quell the outbreak. Nine stevedores working on the ship and six firemen were overcome by ammonia fumes and taken to hospital. There were pathetic scenes when the victims were brought on deck. They were seized by convulsions and rolled about in tense agony. Fireman Jorgensen went below three times in stifling fumes, each time bringing up an unconscious man. ,He returned a fourth time and was seized by convulsions as the result of the fumes, and fell from the ladder into the hold, where he lay for half and hour before he was rescued by firemen in smoke helmets.

The ship’s hatches were sealed, and steam turned on from the ship’s boilers, in the hope of quelling the outbreak, the cause of which is unknown. Most of the cargo was removed from the vessel, the waterside workers having agreed to work overtime in order to get the mutton stored in the refrigerating chambers on the wharf.— Press Association. FLAMES EXTINGUISHED. DAMAGE TO MEAT CARGO. Received December 6, 10.20 a.m. MELBOURNE, Dec. 6. The fire on 'the steamer Idomeneus has been extinguished. Half the meat shipment in the affected hold will be lost. —Press Association.