An ordinary day in New Zealand

What might have proved a serious fire was averted by the prompt action of Mr T. Sheen. of Temuka. He occupies the tent and tarpaulin premises of Mr J. Brown and “baches" on the premises. At one o'clock on Sunday he had just removed a baking dish from his stove.This he placed on a shelf erected in a disused passage leading to what was originally an outlet to the dwelling house. A few minutes afterwards he noticed a smell of burning, and found that the paper on the shelf and on the adjacent wall had ignited, presumably from a spark left on the dish, and that the flames had already secured a hold on the lining boards. Mr Sheen was fortunately able to put out the fire, but not before some boards had been burned through. 

"Town and Country." Timaru Herald, 7 December 1897, 2.