FIRE FATALITY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 264, 5 October 1933, Page 7

FIRE FATALITY.

TRAPPED MEN’S DEATHS.

SURROUNDED BY FLAMES

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3. Thirty-six men were burned to death late on Tuesday in the hills above Hollywood, where a fire started suddenly in a tinder-like underbrush. Some 150 unemployed men working on relief projects were trapped in a circle of flames which engulfed a small area between a dam and the mineral canyons. Hardly any survivors escaped without more or less serious burns.

Ambulances, fire brigades, and about 3500 recruits rushed to their aid and controlled the fire after it had devastated 1000 acres of uninhabited mountain land.

The apparent cause of the fire was the dropping of a lighted cigarette. The charred bodies of 36 of the victims have been found. Their identity has been erased by the flames, which turned the box-like canyon into a tomb of cremation. They were taken to a temporary morgue. Fire officials expressed a fear of the possibility that twenty more men have been cremated.

The tragedy occurred at the eastern end of the low-lying Santa Monica mountains, in the city area • known as Griffith Park.

A huge crowd of people gathered at the entrance to the park, while terrified mothers and children frantically sought husbands and fathers. The Coroner, Mr Frank Nance, has been told that eighteen more bodies have been found in another section of the canyon, but he is unable to confirm the information.

PROGRESS REPORT.

HIGHER DEATH ROLL

Received October 5, 9.5 a.m. LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4. At least 20 more persons are believed to be dead. One hundred are in hospital, with severe burns.