20th ANNIVERSARY

The LONDON FIRE JOURNAL marked it 20th Anniversary in 2025 and underwent a major update, revision and general housecleaning dating back to our debut. The volume of information available on the Internet has increased many, many times since 2005 along with improved editing and photo display ability. Vinny Del Giudice in Denver, Colorado.

WOOLWORTH'S WIMBLEDON - 1981

 

Photo: Wimbledon Fire Station

Fire gutted the Woolworth's store on Wimbledon's Broadway on April 30, 1981, killing London firefighter Anthony "Tony" Marshall, 26, and injuring two others.

The blaze started in a storage area and spread rapidly. Aerial ladders were pressed into service to drown the flames.

After the fire was under control, a falling edifice trapped the men as they damped down residual flames, according to the Wimbledon Society. 

Fire Fighter magazine blamed Marshall's death on a lack of breathing apparatus.

Marshall's wife, Cheryl, quoted by the South London News in 2022, said: “Tony was full of life, extremely popular and very much a family man. ... He was very kind and caring and it was this nature, and the fact that two of his best friends were firemen, that drew him to the job."

Sadly, April 30 also marked the first birthday of Marshall's son.

Adding to the heartache, "only three days earlier, the best man at Anthony’s wedding had been badly burned in a fire he was fighting," according to the Fire Brigades Union.

That London firefighter, Barry Trussell, who was also 26, succumbed to his injuries on May 21, 1981. He was trapped by a flash explosion in a storeroom at St. Georges Hospital on Blackshaw Road in Tooting on April 27, 1981, and died at the burn unit at Queen Mary’s Hospital.

Safety at Woolworth's

During the 20th Century, firefighters considered many Woolworth establishments hazards, brimming with flammable goods and materials. 

On May 8, 1979, fire at a Woolworth's in Manchester, killed 10 people and injuring many others. There were no sprinklers. Barred windows on the upper floors meant "a vital means of rescue was frustrated," the Fire Brigades Union said. The labor organization also called the Manchester store "a death trap." 

In 1973, fire destroyed a store in Colchester, Essex, while on May 6, 1971, fire leveled a Woolworth warehouse in Castleton, Rochdale.

A pair of Woolworth store fires in the U.S. claimed firefighters lives - three men at Aurora, Illinois on Jan. 11, 1934 and seven in Charleston, West Virginia, on March 4, 1949.

Also in the U.S., Anderson, Indiana, was the site of a non-fatal Woolworth's fire on Dec. 30, 1980 as were Tucson, Arizona, on Nov. 24, 1967, Dayton, Ohio, on March 2, 1947 and Flat River, Missouri on Nov. 29, 1946, a Google search shows.

CAFE DE PARIS - 1941

 

Snakehips Johnson

By Vinny Del Giudice
London Fire Journal

On March 18, 1941, German bombs crashed through a ventilation shaft in a "blue flash" onto the dance floor of London's Cafe de Paris, killing an estimated 34 people - including popular orchestra leader Ken "Snakehips" Johnson - and injuring about 80 others.

The swanky venue, located at 3 Coventry Street in the West End, was a haunt of the rich and famous and could seat hundreds. Edward VIII was a regular during the 1920s. 

The nightclub was also considered attack-proof as it was situated below street level.

The tragedy is depicted in the 2024 movie "Blitz," written, produced and directed by Steve McQueen. "The symbolic nature of the Café de Paris in the movie," McQueen said, "is to show the divide between the rich and poor." There were presumably no East Enders among the guests. They were in the shelters and tube stations.

 

The story goes the musicians were playing and the singer singing "O Johnny. Oh Johnny, Oh!" when the bombs landed.

Oh, Johnny, oh, Johnny, how you can love?
Oh, Johnny, oh, Johnny, Heaven's above

"The floor was heaving with couples. Suddenly, there was an immense blue flash," according to a Daily Mail story commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Blitz. "Two bombs had hit the building, hurtled down a ventilation shaft from the roof and exploded right in front of the band."

The German bombs were estimated to have been of the 50-kilogram variety. 

"The dead and dying were heaped everywhere," the Daily Mail said. "Champagne was cracked open to clean wounds."

Partying Canadian nurses were among those club guests credited with providing first aid for the dying and wounded. 

One account said rescuers found Johnson found mangled in the ruins. Another said the orchestra leader was hardly scathed and still had a flower in his lapel. Many of the dead suffered burst lungs and succumbed instantly - still seated at their tables. Rescuers, meantime, collected body parts from others.

The band's guitarist, Joe Deniz, said of that night: "As we started playing there was an awful thud, and all the lights went out. The ceiling fell in and the plaster came pouring down. People were yelling. ... The next thing I remember was being in a small van which had been converted into an ambulance. Then someone came to me and said: `Joe, Ken's dead.'"

In the mayhem, looters absconded with the jewelry of the deceased, in some cases by slicing off the cadavers fingers for rings. The wounded were robbed, too. Unbroken bottles of champagne and liquor were up for grabs.

One of the first on the scene was a Metropolitan Police wartime special constable, Ballard Berkeley, an actor by trade who went on the play "The Major" in the Fawlty Towers television series.
Recalling the scene years later, Berkeley said, according to the Daily Mail: "It blew legs off people, heads off people, and it exploded their lungs so that when I went into this place I saw people sitting at tables quite naturally. Dead. Dressed beautifully without a mark on them. It was like looking at waxworks."

The looting  "to me, was the most awful thing of all," he said. (The crime, however, was common during the Blitz, with the London Daily Mirror demanding in 1940: "Hang A Looter.")

The National Archives notes: "As with many bombing incidents, newspaper reports about the Café de Paris bomb were limited ... In an attempt to prevent the German authorities from learning about the impact of the bombing campaign in detail, the building was not named, being referred to simply as a restaurant."

Cafe de Paris re-opened after the war, in 1948, and continued into the 21st Century.

"In 1939, the Café was allowed to stay open even though theatres and cinemas were closed by order," according to the club's website. "People gossiped their way through the blackout and the Café was advertised as a safe haven by Martin Poulson, the maitre d', who argued that the four solid storeys of masonry above were ample protection."

Poulson died in the bombing. 

Among other fatalities was Meg Hargrove, a member of the Auxiliary Fire Service. Her name appears on the U.K. Firefighters National Memorial.

Cafe de Paris closed in 2020 after 96 years.

London Daily Mail

MANCHESTER AIRPORT - 1985

Photos: UK government accident investigation files

A gruesome jetliner inferno at Manchester Airport led to global safety reforms, including removal of seats next to emergency wing exits, fire retardant cabin materials and immediate evacuation of passengers and crew.

Fifty-five of 131 people crammed into the Boeing 737 bound for Corfu died after an aborted takeoff on Aug. 22, 1985.

Moving about the cabin was difficult at best. 

"I was just staggered by the number of people on the aircraft," survivor John Beardmore told the Manchester Evening News in 2024.

The first sign of danger was a thump that rattled British Airtours Flight 28M.

"I think we all thought it was a tire bursting," Beardmore said. "But within seconds someone on the left side of the cabin shouted the engine was on fire. I could see through a window black fumes coming out of the engine."

"The plane turned right and as it did I heard people screaming at the back because the wind was blowing the flames from the engine directly on to the cabin," he said.

"I was near the back, a black cloud of dense fumes and smoke started to roll down the cabin, Beardmore said. "When it hit you you just choked, one or two breaths and you knew you'd collapse."

The seats, carpets and interior walls were highly flammable. 

Recalling the blaze in a 2015 interview, retired airport firefighter Roger Sheppard told the Manchester Evening News: “We heard a big bang on the runway. We looked over and saw the aircraft trailing smoke and flames.

“We started putting foam on it and knocked out the fire on the engine almost immediately," Sheppard said. “But then we realized the tail of the aircraft was slowly sinking down and we realized the fire had spread inside.” 

Flames peeled the fuselage. The battle for access for an interior fire attack brutalized the airport firefighters.

“I managed to get a lady out over the wing, and one stewardess who had collapsed in a doorway trying to help others," he said. “It was hard because you couldn’t go in as you’d cause an obstruction to people trying to get out.”

***

August 1985 marked the deadliest month for the world's airlines, with the Manchester fire and three other accidents claiming a total of 720 lives, according to the BBC.

In Japan, 520 of 524 people aboard Japan Air Lines Flight 123 died when the Boeing 747 roared out of control into mountainous terrain.

In the U.S., 137 people died when Delta Flight 191 crashed approaching Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in high winds.

Bar Harbor Airlines Fight 1808 crashed in Maine killing eight people, including schoolgirl Samantha Smith, who won fame as a goodwill ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Photos: UK government accident investigation files

CHELSEA HOSPITAL - 1976

Photo: London Fire Brigade
Senior officers assess fire conditions at Chelsea Hospital on May 12, 1976.  Twelve pumps and two turntable ladders responded to the blaze.

LEEDS - 1906

The Great Fire of Leeds broke out on July 25, 1906  at the Hotham & Whiting warehouse at the Wellington Street and Thirsk Row. "“Floor after floor fell in, and the fire reared like a furnace," the Leeds Mercury newspaper. Sparks set the nearby Great Northern Hotel ablaze. Two firefighters were seriously injured.

SHEFFIELD - 1921

On April 23, 1921, flames devoured the C.T. Skeltons Tool Manufacturers plant at the Sheaf Bank Works in Sheffield. Skeltons was one of the largest employers in Sheffield at the time, according to the web page of the Sheaf Bank Business Park. Thirty-four firefighters responded to the blaze aboard nine engines. They stretched two miles of hose to supply water to 16 jets but it was a losing battle.

CHARING CROSS - 1938

Photo: British Pathe

On May 17, 1938, a Circle Line train rammed a District Line train at London's Charing Cross underground station, claiming six lives. "A wiring error had caused the preceding signal to incorrectly display a green aspect," Wikipedia said. A similar incident occurred near the station in March but there were no fatalities.

PADDINGTON RAIL DISASTER - 1999

Photos: BBC, Metropolitan Police 

Thirty-one people died when two commuter trains collided in a fiery wreck on Oct. 5, 1999 near London's Paddington rail station. Dozens of people sustained injuries.

Passenger cars burst into flames - and the plume of smoke was visible across London. 

Investigators determined one of trains ran a stop signal. 

Passenger Mark Rogers told on the BBC: "There was an almighty crash and the train rolled over and over, first onto its roof and then onto its side."

The London Fire Brigade Museum's website recounted the tragedy: 

"An emergency call was made at 0810am and crews from North Kensington fire station arrived minutes later.

"Station Officer Hodson reportedly saw a `large mushroom cloud of smoke rising 150-200m into the air' and further fire engines were requested at 0815am.

"Crews initially faced difficulty in gaining access to the accident site because of a delay in opening a security gate.

"Several firefighters scaled the gate and began laying hose to quickly extinguish the fire.

"After securing the derailed carriages, firefighters began rescuing passengers from the wreckage but found many of the trapped passengers hampered by the dangers posed by the suspended roof of the train and the fraying of the overhead electric lines." 

The Paddington wreck - also known as the Ladbroke Grove disaster - occurred on the same stretch on rail line where seven people died in a 1997 accident.

CLAPHAM RAIL DISASTER - 1988

Photo: BBC

On Dec. 12, 1988, Clapham Junction was the scene of a railway accident involving two collisions between three commuter trains. Thirty-five people died and more than 100 were injured.

"The first call about the incident was received at 0813 with crews from Clapham, Battersea, Tooting, Norbury, Fulham, and Euston fire stations attending the disaster," according to the London Fire Brigade website. "First reports were of two trains, but it became clear there were actually three."

''It is sheer, bloody hell,'' said James McMillan, an assistant chief fire officer quoted by The New York Times. The second train ''seemed to dive under the rear of the first, come out on its right-hand side and then go into the empty train,'' he said.

Passenger Chris Reeves, who was seated in a buffet car on one of the trains, said "the roof split open like a ripe tomato, and that's how we got out.''

An inquiry determined faulty repairs to a rail signal led to the pile-up - "`wiring errors' made by a rail worker who had had one day off in 13 weeks," the BBC said.

A union official complained about the condition "pre-war" signal equipment, in the aftermath of the crash, saying  "A lot of the equipment is held together by chewing gum and wire," according to United Press International.

Clapham Junction is considered one of Europe's busiest rail junctions.

MARCHIONESS - 1989

Photos: Wikipedia

The London Fire Brigade responded to the deadly sinking of the party boat Marchioness on the Thames that killed 51 people on Aug. 20, 1989.

The vessel collided with the 260-foot gravel dredger Bowbelle after departing Charing Cross pier at 1:25 a.m. for a birthday party for banker Antonio de Vasconcellos, 26.

Marchioness passed its sister ship, Hurlingham, as the vessels approached Southwark Bridge, according to The Independent newspaper.

At 1:46 a.m., the Hurlingham witnessed the collision and issued a distress call: "Wapping Police, Wapping Police, emergency. Pleasure boat is sunk, Cannon Street Railway Bridge, all emergency aid please."

However, the Woolwich marine radio station, which received the distress call, misheard the location as Battersea Bridge -- in the opposite direction.

It wasn't until 20 minutes after the collision that the fire brigade received the correct location.

At 2:16 a.m., Station Officer Gleeson of the Southwark fire station radioed: "Machioness sunk, believed downstream of Blackfrairs Bridge with unknown number of people in river and Met Police searching river between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridges.''

The Independent said:

"No one was found alive after the first 30 minutes. Only one body was recovered that night by the fire brigade. No others were found until the following day when the wreck was raised east of Southwark Bridge: there were 24 bodies found in different sections of the boat. Over the next few days the remaining 26 bodies were gradually recovered along the river, the last being Mr de Vasconcellos himself.''

In August 1991, a report from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said "the failure of lookouts on both ships was the immediate cause of the tragedy,'' the BBC said.

 In 1995, an inquest jury returned a verdict of "unlawful killing" but the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was insufficient evidence.

IRA ATTACKS

Photo: City of London Police

1993 at Bishopsgate, 1974 at Parliament and Tower of London, 1973 at old Bailey and 1983 at the Harrod's store

From 1960s into the 1990s, the Provisional Irish Republican Army carried out a wave of deadly attacks across the U.K. aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland - including bombings of historic landmarks.

There were an estimated 500 incidents during "The Troubles," mainly in London, with 50 people dying in the capital, including 28 civilians, 15 soldiers and five police officers, and two IRA members, Wikipedia said.

One of the most heinous occurred July 20, 1982, when the IRA bombed the Queen’s Life Guard. "Fifteen mounted soldiers of the Household Cavalry were in Hyde Park on their way to change the guard near Buckingham Palace when a remote-controlled car bomb was detonated, blasting them with nails and other shrapnel," according to the UK Army Museum. Four soldiers and seven horses died.

On March 8, 1973, the IRA hit the Old Bailey, London's central criminal court. Twin car bombs claimed one life. Another 100 people were injured. The blasts also damaged government agricultural offices.

On June 17, 1974, a bomb at the Houses of Parliament fractured a gas main. "A fierce fire spread quickly through the centuries-old hall in one of Britain's most closely-guarded buildings,'' the BBC said. About a dozen people were injured.

A month later, July 17, 1974, a blast at the Tower of London killed one person and injured about 40 others. The bomb detonated in the Mortar Room in the White Tower, a small basement exhibition room packed with tourists.

On Dec. 17, 1983, bombers struck London's Harrods Department Store during the Christmas shopping season.  The explosion killed six people, including three police officers, and wounded scores more.

On April 24, 1993, a truck bomb at Bishopsgate in the City of London caused £1 billion in property loss, including the destruction of a church and serious damage to the Liverpool Street Underground. One person died and 44 were injured.

CRIPPLEGATE - 1897

On Nov. 19, 1897, flames ripped across 100 buildings in Cripplegate, putting thousands of people out of work. The fire broke out in "an ostrich feather warehouse," according to the website of Gold Lane estate.

TIFFIN SCHOOL - 2003

Photo: BBC 
On Dec. 15, 2003, a 12-pump fire ripped through the Tiffin Girls School in Kingston in southwest London. There were no injuries. The fire burned for several hours.

OXFORD STREET - 2007

"More than 150 firefighters battled through the night as a huge blaze engulfed one of Oxford Street's busiest stores. Hundreds of shoppers had to be evacuated and traffic was brought to a standstill for several hours as New Look's London flagship shop went up in flames.'' - The Evening Standard, April 24, 2007

WEST END - 2002

Photo: BBC
On Sept. 26, 2002, firefighters extinguished a fire that engulfed two buildings in London's West End - and threatened to spread to the 200-year-old Theatre Royal. ``More than 50 firefighters managed to control the fire which burned for over four hours, closing roads and filling the West End with smoke,'' the BBC said.

ANIMAL HOUSE

 

A bird, a cat, a monkey, three dogs - and 11 London firefighters in late 1800s or early 1900s. Quite the managarie. 

RAGGETT'S HOTEL - 1845

 Illustration: The Fireman's Own Book by George P. Little, 1860

On May 27, 1845, fire swept Raggett's - a popular hotel in Piccadilly.

"Several eminent persons perished,'' according to Haydn's Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information, including the wife of a Member of Parliament , the owner of the hotel and his daughter.

At the same time, firemen saved a number of guests with escape ladders - demonstrating the value of the wheeled apparatus.

Ten engines attended the blaze, which was visible in many parts of the city. Queen Victoria witnessed the progress of the flames from her palace and sent a messenger. The legendary chief officer, James Braidwood, was in command of the fire forces.

The water supply was considered adequate for the pumps, but the wood construction of the hotel fueled the blaze, the cause of which was deemed an accident.

A periodical - The Gentleman's Magazine, July 1845 edition - reported:

`"May 27 - A fire very suddenly occurred at Raggett's Hotel, in Dover-street, Piccadilly, at one o'clock in the morning, and, though few persons in the house had retired to rest, five of them lost their lives, namely, Mrs. John Round, wife of the member for Maldon; Mr. Raggett, the proprietor of the hotel; Miss Raggett, his daughter, (who, missing her footing on the escape, fell to the ground with great violence, and died soon after); Mrs. Jones, a servant of Lord Huntingdon's; and another female servant.

"The fire originated in the apartments of Miss King, who set fire to her bed curtains, and its rapid progress is attributed to the throwing open of all the doors. The hotel was formed from two old houses, and of slight and inflammable materials.''

The Victorian-era publication also printed an obituary of Mrs. Round, the wife of the member of the House of Commons:

"Perished in the awful conflagration at Raggett's Hotel, Dover-st. aged 56, Susan-Constantia, wife of John Round, esq. M.P. for Maldon. She was the eldest daughter of the late George Caswall, esq. of Sacombe Park, Herts, and co-heir to her brother the late George Newman Caswall, esq.; was married in 1815, and has left issue three sons and one surviving daughter. The latter narrowly escaped her mother's fate. They had just returned from the French play, and were still waiting for their supper when so suddenly alarmed.''

Ladder Rescues

At the time, fire suppression was provided by the London Fire Engine Establishment, organized in 1833 to consolidate brigades operated by London's insurance companies. James Braidwood, former firemaster of Edinburgh, commaded 13 fire stations and 80 full-time firefighters. His men were nicknamed ``Jimmy Braiders.''

Rescue services were provided by a separate agency - the Royal Society for the Protection of Life - which operated a network of wheeled escape ladders stationed across the city. Each of the escapes was manned by a "conductor." Escape ladder stations outnumbered fire stations housing the engines.

In "The Fireman's Own Book'' - published in 1860 - George P. Little wrote:

"The fire was discovered by police constable 44 C, who observed smoke issuing through the windows on the southern corner of the first floor. Several persons quickly made their appearance at the front and back windows in their night clothes. Such a strong hold had the fire obtained, that in less than ten minutes the flames were shooting forth from the windows with great fury, and extending nearly half way across the road.

"The police constable, on giving the alarm, had the presence of mind to send messengers for the fire-escapes and engines; consequently, in a few minutes, two escapes, belonging to the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, were at the scene of conflagration, and also the parish engine. The one belonging to the County Office was also early in arriving, as well as several belonging to the London Brigade and the West of England, from the station in Waterloo Road.

"The first object that was sought to be accomplished was the rescue of the inmates, but before ladders or the escapes could be placed in front of the building, a number of persons got out upon a small balcony over the doorway, and, being assisted by the police and neighbors, they were enabled to effect their escape in safety.

"The persons in the upper floors were obliged to remain until the escapes could be placed to their windows. As soon as that was done, several of them entered the machines, and were received below in safety.''

Rapid Spread

Little also wrote:

"The rapidity and intensity of the fire may be accounted for from the fact that the whole of the apartments were wainscotted, and that there was three times as much wood in the building as is usual in modern houses. Although, therefore, there were ten engines in attendance within half an hour of the outbreak, and a plentiful supply of water, the whole building, with the single exception of the sitting room of Mrs. Round, which remained with the supper things standing on the table uninjured and untouched, was in flames.

"In the report made by Mr. Braidwood he attributes the rapid progress of the fire to the fact that the whole of the doors were thrown open, and thus a free current of air tended to increase the flames. Her Majesty had herself witnessed the progress of the flames from the Palace, and a messenger was at an early hour sent to inquire into the extent of the damage.''

HENDERSON'S - 1960

Photo: Liverpool Ambulance

On June 22, 1960, fire destroyed Henderson's department store in Liverpool, claiming 11 lives.

The blaze led to reforms granting fire brigades legal authority conduct safety inspections of stores and offices and implement escape plans, similar to the requirements of the Factories Act.

One of the rescuers, Firefighter George Taylor, recalled the fire in a BBC interview in 2010:

"When we got to the incident the driver of the turntable ladder had seen the situation, there were people on the ledge about 100 feet up on the fourth floor of the building.

"They'd obviously managed to get out of the windows on to that ledge. A lot of heat and smoke [was] coming out of the building, flames on different levels.

"When the ladder was extended my boss was about to go up but he didn't have what we call a hook belt which was a security device.

"I'd managed to put one of those on so I called to him to let me go past him, which I did.

"As I'm going up the ladder about halfway up the people on the left hand side of the head of the ladder, two of them had been placed by Colin Murphy on to the roof of the building next door which was Bunneys department store.

"Unfortunately when I was about halfway up the ladder the heat and flame from inside the building blew him off the ledge and he went past me and he was killed. He dropped down on to the canopy outside.

"The people on the ledge, having seen what had happened to him they started to move away from where our ladder was positioned and so we had to call to them to stay where they were.

"Eventually I got to the top of the ladder and managed to get five people on to the ladder with me and as were coming down, with the blast of flame coming out of the windows, the two ladies who were amongst the group received burns to their arms and faces. It was only than I realised I didn't have a helmet on."

BETHNAL GREEN ROAD - 2004

Memorial mural at Whitechapel Fire Station

Photo: BBC

On July 20, 2004, Whitechapel station firefighters Bill Faust and Adam Meere died in the line of duty.

Faust, 36, and Meere, 27, were fatally injured at an eight-pump fire on Bethnal Green Road in East London and succumbed at a hospital.

 Meere had joined the brigade a few months earlier and finished his training in May.

The fire in the three-story commercial structure was reported at 4 a.m, according to a BBC report. The men, both wearing breathing apparatus, ran into trouble in the lower part of the building.

The deaths were the first since a firefighter died in Willesden in north London in 1993.

London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Kelly, quoted by the BBC, said firefighters reported a serious fire upon arrival in a clothing shop and its basement with smoke pouring from windows.

There were apartments on the upper level.

Two civilians were injured.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE - 1829

 Fire at Royal Princess's Theatre, 73 Oxford Street in London, in 1829. It was rebuilt.

ST CATHERINE'S - 1913

On May 6, 1913, fire gutted St. Catherine's Church in London and contemporary reports suggested the fire was set by suffragettes. The suffragettes were responsible for a series of blazes across London meant to protest government policy.

ROYAL VISITOR - 1974

Photo: Wiki Commons

Queen Elizabeth II meeting London Fire Brigade members who responded to 1974's wave of IRA bombings.

LONDON'S TOLL

The Luftwaffe dropped thousands of bombs on London from 1939 to 1945, killing almost 30,000 people and demolishing more than than 70,000 buildings. Additionally, 1.7 million structures sustained bomb damage.

COVENT GARDEN - 1954

Photos: Institution of Fire Engineers

Firefighters from London's old Clerkenwell fire station paid dearly in life and flesh at a warehouse blaze at Covent Garden on May 11, 1954.

The five-story building, constructed of steel frame and brick with wooden floors, suffered  structural failure, according to the Institution of Fire Engineers.

The alarm was received at 3 p.m.

"While fighting a fire in a warehouse containing fruit and vegetables, adjacent to Covent Garden, London, Station Officer Fred Hawkins and Fireman A E J Batt-Rawden, both of Clerkenwell Fire Station, lost their lives,'' according to Fire magazine.

"Sub Officer Sidney Peen, Leading Fireman Ernest Datlin, Fireman Kenneth Aylward, Fireman Charles Gadd, Fireman Frederick Parr and Fireman Daniel Stocking were all sent to hospital. Three of the injured required plastic surgery treatment.''

Covent Garden was a hub for fruit and vegetable businesses, staring with a small open-air market in 1654, according to Wikipedia.

On Dec. 21, 1949, fire broke out in stacks of Christmas trees stored in catacombs beneath a Covent Garden market, claiming a fireman's life.

BARBICAN - 1902

On April 21, 1902, fire erupted at MacQueen's hat factory in the Barbican and wind-whipped flames gutted adjacent buildings. "Three hundred firemen and 40 fire engines were engaged,'' The New York Times said. "Owing to the danger that Aldergate Street Station might catch fire, traffic on the Metropolitan Railway was temporarily suspended. The guests of the Manchester Hotel, adjacent to the Aldergate Street station, hurriedly left.'' Chief Fire Officer Wells directed the firefighting. Two firemen were injured.

MOORGATE TUBE - 1908

"The most serious fire which has as yet taken place in the network of the tube railways under London broke out recently about 25 yds. from the Moorgate st. station of the City & South London railway," the magazine Fire Engineering reported in 1908.

"Contrary to the inactive proceedings of our Interborough company, either on its subway or elevated lines, managers were at once dispatched along the line; the trains were stopped and the passengers sent to the surface.

"The electric current was at once cut off, so that no live wires or rails handicapped the firemen (wearing) smoke-helmets. Even with these on, they could not enter at Moorgate, the flame and smoke being so severe, and engines and men were dispatched to the stations at the Bank and Old street.

"The firemen soon had the blaze under control. There was a big crowd at Moorgate street station awaiting transportation: but no panic ensued and all the expectant passengers were taken up to the street by the elevators."

GATESHEAD - 1854

On Oct. 6, 1854, a fire and explosion ravaged the neighboring towns of Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne, killing 53 people and causing hundreds of injuries. Many of the casualties were spectators.

The Illustrated London News reported:

"Between twelve and one o’clock, a fire broke out in the worsted manufactory of Messrs. Wilson and Sons, in Hillgate, Gateshead. After raging with great fury for about two hours, the roof fell in, and the heat became so intense that it melted the sulphur which had been stored in an adjoining bonded warehouse.

"It came out in torrents, like streams of lava; and, as it met the external air, began to blaze: its combustion illumining the river and its shipping, the Tyne, the High Level Bridge, and the church steeples of Newcastle–spreading over every object its lurid and purple light. ...

"From the various floors of the warehouse huge masses of melted tallow and lead flowed in copious streams. The eight storied edifice was one mass of flame, and from every landing melted sulphur and tallow and fused lead were descending in luminous showers. It resembled a cataract on fire.

"At length the walls fell. Burning brands were then scattered over the roofs of the adjoining houses, had widely extended the conflagration. ... 

"In the immediate neighbourhood of the fire was another bonded warehouse, filled with the most combustible materials–naptha, nitrate of soda, and potash, as well as immense quantities of tallow and sulphur; and it is also said that a large quantity of gunpowder was contained in it.

"To this building all eyes were directed, because, although a `double fire-proof' structure, and supported on metal pillars and floors, it seemed impossible to prevent the flames from communicating with the dangerous materials within its walls.

"These fears were well founded. No sooner had the flames reached this compound, which was in fact nothing but a huge fulminating mixture, than an explosion took place, which no pen can describe, and which made Newcastle and Gateshead shake to their foundations."

SUMMER OF FIRE - 2018

Photo: Manchester Fire and Rescue Service

Drought led to an outbreak of grass fires from Manchester to London during the summer of 2018.

In London, more than 200 firefighters battled a peat fire on Wanstead Flats, one of the largest ever in fire brigade history, on July 15, 2018.

``Peat fires are complex because they burn underground and travel before reappearing above the surface somewhere different,'' Allen Perez, deputy commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, said.

`I AM ANGRY'

Grenfell Tower disaster, June 14, 2017 - 72 dead, 70 injured, 223 escaped

David Badillo, front, and watch manager Michael Dowden at Grenfell Tower

By Daily Telegraph
June 29, 2018

With the plea of a young girl’s sister ringing in his ears a firefighter at Grenfell Tower undertook a desperate “personal mission” to rescue a 12-year-old from the flames.

David Badillo effectively ignored London Fire Brigade instructions to residents of the tower to stay in their homes by going up to the 20th floor to try and find Jessica Urbano Ramirez and bring her down to safety.

But to this day he remains haunted by his failure to find the young girl, who had fled her flat and climbed to the 23rd floor, where she later died.

Recalling how he was unable to save Jessica, Mr Badillo broke down on Friday as he gave evidence at the public inquiry into the disaster, which claimed 72 lives in June last year.

He had set out to find the Jessica after bumping into her sister on the ground floor of Grenfell Tower, as the fire began to take hold above them.

Mr Badillo, part of the North Kensington crew which was first to arrive at the scene, said in his written statement: "She said that her sister was 12 years old and called Jessica and that she was in the flat alone. She looked very distressed - panicked and anxious.

"I told her not to worry and that I would go and get Jessica on my own as I didn't want to endanger her."

Asked by Richard Millett QC, the lead counsel to the inquiry, why he felt it was necessary to rescue her, given the stay-put policy , Mr Badillo said: "She was on her own and there is obviously a fire in the tower."

Pressed on the policy, he continued: "I didn't think about that, no, I just wanted to go up - it was a young, 12-year-old girl on her own, I just wanted to go and get her out."

Residents and fire safety experts have criticised the decision by London Fire Brigade commanders not to abandon the stay put policy until 2.47am , more than an hour after it had become obvious the fire had spread out of control.

After making his promise to Jessica’s sister, and taking the keys to their flat, Mr Badillo decided to break "normal procedure" and head above the floor where the fire had broken out.

He said: "I just wanted to go and get the little girl out of the flat, as she was alone. I risk assessed the situation and did not think that I was in danger.

"I didn't tell anyone what I was doing as there was so much going on. I also thought that I would be told no, but I was worried for the girl's safety"

The 20-year LFB veteran took the lift to the 20th floor without breathing apparatus, but was swamped with "thick, black smoke" when it stopped on floor 15.

He groped his way to the stairwell and headed outside, where he realised the blaze was looking more dangerous.

Enlisting the help of crew manager Chris Secrett and Chris Dorgu he went back up in the lift, which this time stopped at the eighth floor, forcing the trio to battle on foot through smoke filled corridors to the 20th.

Here they found the door to flat 176 ajar and Jessica nowhere to be seen.

He wrote: "I checked all of the typical hiding places, under the bed and in the cupboards, but did not find anyone. We were shouting out and searching by stamping and sweeping to feel our way round, using our torches.

"I felt that with the front door being found ajar and us searching the rooms twice that Jessica must have gotten out."

Mr Badillo - who said the radios fitted to the firefighters’ breathing apparatus suffered from poor reception and hampered communications - compared the unfolding horror to a "disaster movie", with material "exploding overhead" and "fireballs coming down all over the place".

He said: "I could clearly see people, still inside, at their windows, waving for help whilst holding their phones which were lit up. I looked to where we had just been on the 20th floor and it was glowing orange - it was a raging inferno and the fire was up to the 23rd floor. I knew in my heart of hearts that not everyone was going to make it out."

Mr Badillo added: "It has deeply affected me and it is never far from my thoughts. I am angry that this fire happened and feel that there are many factors that made things worse."

On hearing for the first time that 999 operators had spoken to Jessica and knew she was on the 23rd floor - not the 20th - Mr Badillo began to sob in the witness box.

"I would have gone up,” he said.