CAMBERWELL - 2009

On July 3, 2009, fire killed six people in a high-rise apartment building in Camberwell, South London.

``We worked as fast as we could and rescued many people from the block,'' London Fire Commissioner Rob Dobson said. ``Sadly, and to the huge regret of the crews involved we simply could not reach everyone in time.''

Dobson said the fire brigade arrived ``within minutes of being called'' and that ``crews worked under very difficult and hazardous circumstances to reach people trapped in the building as soon as they were able to.''

Photo: BBC

HORTON HOSPITAL

Photos: www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk

Fire drill, circa 1910, and members of fire brigade at Horton Hospital, Epsom, on outskirts of London

LAMBETH CONTROL

London Fire Brigade control room at Lambeth

SMITHFIELD'S

Photo: www.eastlondonfirefighters.co.uk
On Jan. 23, 1958, a fire at Union Cold Storage Co. at Smithfield Market claimed the lives of two firefighters. Flames ``spread through two and a half acres of underground passage,'' according to The New York Times. The fire burned for days.

LINK TO STORY:
http://londonfirejournal.blogspot.com/2005/07/smithfield-market-1958.html

NARROW STREET

Photo: http://www.eastlondonfirefighters.co.uk/
Fire at Narrow Street, Limehouse, 1934

FIRE SAFETY

Move over Oliver Twist.

According to The Sun newspaper on May 26, 2009:

A LANDLORD pocketed £36,000 a month by cramming families into single rooms and even SHEDS, a council has claimed.

Families were often charged £1,000 for one small room in the "unsafe" flats and houses.

Showers doubled as toilets and "kitchens" were just microwaves.

Harrow Council raids in North West London found breaches of fire safety - with one family-sized house having 17 people in six flats.

Legal action was launched over eight properties. Cllr Marilyn Ashton said: "We uncovered a squalid picture of overcrowding. It could have been Charles Dickens's London."

WORSLEY HOTEL - 1974

Photos: Gordon Honeycombe web site

On Dec. 13, 1974, an arson fire swept the Worsley Hotel in the Maida Vale section of London, killing 7 people - including a probationary firefighter named Hamish ``Harry'' Petit.

Three other firefighters were injured.

The story of the Worsley Hotel fire was recorded by journalist Gordon Honeycombe in the book ``Red Watch'' and by former London officer Neil Wallington in the book "Fireman! A personal account."

The hotel's kitchen porter, Edward Mansfield, was convicted of setting the fire.

According to Wikipedia:

The first of several 999 calls were made to the London Fire Brigade at 03:32 and received by the local fire station, A21, Paddington who were ordered to the scene along with neighbouring A22, Manchester Square and G26 Belsize, bringing the first attendance of 4 pumping appliances – 2 carrying the heavy but stable 50 foot (15m) wheeled escape ladders, a 100 ft (30m) turntable ladder (aerial) and an emergency tender (for the breathing apparatus (BA) sets carried, the wearing of which was then still a specialist skill).

On arrival, a chaotic scene greeted the senior officer, a serious fire in progress and numerous persons requiring rescue. A priority message was made to control and a “Make pumps 8” message was sent (requesting a further 4 pumping appliances in addition to the original 4) within minutes of first arriving, whilst rescues (the priority) were being affected from both the front and rear of the building. Further reinforcements were requested, first to 15 pumps, and then 20, and finally 30 with a further 2 turntable ladders requested.

During the next hour, the building structure began to deteriorate as floors and roof structures became affected by fire. This was particularly apparent in house numbers 13, 15, and 17, the worst affected. Many of the internal stairways were stone and when heated by the fire and then suddenly cooled by water collapsed making internal movement through the building awkward and potentially hazardous.

As further crews arrived along with increasingly senior officers to direct operations and persons were accounted for, the operation moved from rescue to the fighting of the fire. Crews took hoses through the doors from the street and off ladders through the windows.

One of these fire fighting crews made up of 3 men and a Station Officer, entered a second floor room to search out the seat of the fire. Whilst in the room, several floors above weakened by the extra load of the partially collapsed roof came down on the crew, the devastation seemingly concentrated on that one room. The release of the trapped men became the priority, with what proved to be a difficult and protracted rescue operation. One by one, 3 men were released (2 with serious burns and 1 with a serious back injury) before the body of the 4th man was found, who was declared dead at the scene.

HORSES

Photos: LFB web site
Fire horses, circa 1900

LONDON ABLAZE

Contemporary account of the Great Fire of London of 1666 from the official London Gazette. The dateline reads ``Whitehall, Sept.8.'' The fire burned from Sept. 2, 1666 to Sept. 5, 1666.

EARLY "TL"

Photo: Encyclopedia Britannica
Horse-drawn turntable ladder

BREAD STREET - 1899

Photo: London Stereoscopic Co.
Horse-drawn pumps supplying water from hydrant at fire on Bread Street in the City of London in 1899.

CHANCERY LANE - 2009

Photo: BBC website
On March 18, 2009, a 15-pump fire broke out at Breams Buildings on Chancery Lane in central London. Vicki Clarke, who works in an office in New Street Square, captured this image posted on the BBC web site. Chancery Lane derives its name from the historic High Court of Chancery. The Evening Standard newspaper describes Chancery Lane as "the heart of London's legal community." The London Fire Brigade said on its web site: "Around 130 people left the building before the arrival of the Brigade and two adjacent buildings were also evacuated from the 6th floor and above as a precaution."
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INCIDENT REPORT
15.36
A27 CLERKENWELL
15 PUMP FIRE, CYLINDERS INVOLVED
44766091
ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION TRIBUNAL SERVICE, CHANCERY LANE, EC4
Office block of 5 floors and mansard roof. 50 metres by 10 metres, 50 per cent of 4th floor and 75 per cent of mansard roof alight. 3 jets 2 aerial monitors, dry riser and breathing apparatus in use.1 ground monitor supplying protective water curtain to adjacent building. 3 by 15 kilogramme propane cylinders involved. Cylinder procedure implemented. 2 adjacent buildings evacuated from 6th floor and above. Extensive salvage operations being undertaken from 4th floor to ground level.

FIRE STRIKE - 1977

Photo: Daily Mail
Firefighters across the U.K. staged a nationwide strike in November 1977 - and walked out again at the start of the 21st century. "The firefighters eventually settled for a 10% increase, taking an average salary to just over £4,000, with the promise of more to come'' after the first industrial action, according to the BBC. "Firefighters went on strike again in 2002/03. The long-running dispute which included a series of one day stoppages over a period of several months ended with a 16% pay rise tied to a modernisation package." The military staffed civil defense fire engines during the strikes.

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE

Illustrated London News sketch of fire at Covent Garden Theatre dated March 15, 1857. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the fire occured during the previous year.

BALHAM TRAGEDY

On Oct. 15, 1940, a German air raid killed 111 people at Balham Underground station on the Northern line. This is exterior view shows a bus that fell into the bomb crater, according to London Transport. Firefighters and other members of the emergency services are also pictured.

WAITING FOR SHOUT

``A London Transport Fireman knits 'winter comforts' for the war effort in the early months of the Second World War, probably as part of London Transports 'Warco' scheme; he appears to be sitting on the running board of a fire engine. Two of his colleagues look on. A tabby cat plays with the ball of wool.'' - London Transport web site

CHISWICK WORKS

A special firefighting squad protected London Transport Chiswick Works during World War II. The plant - converted to defense work and operated by London Aircraft Production - was targeted by German bombers, including an incendiary raid on Oct. 10, 1940, according to London Transport. The photos show drilling on March 20, 1941.

CLAPHAM DEPOT

German bombers damaged the tram depot at Clapham on April 19, 1941, according to London Transport. The transit system sustained extensive damage during 1940-1941.

SIKH TEMPLE

Photo: Evening Standard web site
On March, 16 2009, a 10-pump fire swept Gurdwara Sikh Sangatarson, a temple on Harley Grove in Bow, according to the Evening Standard. Police considered the fire suspicious, the Standard reported. “It is difficult to watch,'' said a worshiper quoted by the East London Adverister. "All the holy books are being destroyed. ... We worship our holy books as steps to God.” No injuries were reported.

-

INCIDENT REPORT
14:06
F27 BOW
10 PUMP FIRE AERIALS 3
43392091
SIKH TEMPLE HARLEY GROVE E3
A temple of 2 floors, 20 metres x 40 metres, 75% of building and roof damaged by fire. 2 x aerial monitors, 2 x ground monitors, 2 x jets, water relay, breathing apparatus, thermal image camera.

CALEDONIA - 1980

Photos: River Clyde web site; Soho Fire Station web site
On April 27, 1980, a 15-pump fire destroyed the retired Paddle Steamer Caledonia, moored on the Thames. A flashover injured five firefighters, according to the Soho Fire Station web site. Renamed Old Caledonia, the vessel was serving as a floating pub at the Embankment. She was built in 1934.

FIREFIGHTER SAFETY

Photos: London Fire Brigade

After a fire at Smithfield Market killed two firefighters from Clerkenwell station in 1958, the London Fire Brigade introduced breathing apparatus control boards to improve firefighter safety by tracking their time, movement and estimated air supply in a burning building.

-

Link to report on Smithfield fire:

http://londonfirejournal.blogspot.com/2005/07/smithfield-market-1958.html

BAA FIRE SERVICE

Photo: East Preston Fire Station website

Firefighters at London Gatwick Airport, second busiest airport in the U.K. after London Heathrow Airport. The firefighters at Gatwick and Heathrow are employed by BAA Airports Ltd., operator of the airports. Gatwick is located in West Sussex, and Heathrow is located in the London Borough of Hillingdon. BAA also operates London Stansted Airport in Essex.

MONUMENT

The Monument to the Great Fire of London - more commonly known as The Monument - towers over the City of London to commemorate the 1666 conflagration.

The Roman doric column was constructed between 1671 and 1677 - by order of the first Rebuilding Act of 1669 - to ``preserve the memory of this dreadful visitation.''

The Monument was built near the site of where the first started - Thomas Farryner's bakery on Pudding Lane - and stands 202 feet - or about 62 meters.

The Great Fire burned from Sept. 2 to Sept. 5, 1666 and gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall, according to Wikipedia.

Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner, marks the point near Smithfield where the flames stopped.

AFS WOMEN HONORED

Photo: Wharf.co.uk

In 2008, the former Millwall Fire Station was converted into an apartment block named for Violet Pengelly and Joan Bartlett, members of the London Auxiliary Fire Service killed during World War II.

According to the web site Wharf.co.uk: ``The young pair were among those who lost their lives during a bomb attack at the height of the blitz.

``Violet, 19, and Joan, 18, were among the first women to sign up to the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1938, and were based at a sub-station in the Saunders Ness Road School on the Isle of Dogs when World War II broke out a year later.

``The two were killed – along with 24 other emergency workers – when the school suffered a direct hit from a high-explosive bomb on the night of September 18, 1940.''

The new residences are named Bartlett Mews and Pengelly Apartments.

AFTER THE RAID

Photo: National Archives
Children outside the ruins of a home in an eastern suburb of London after a German air raid in September 1940.

HEAVY PUMPS

Photo: Life magazine

Auxiliary fire service heavy pumps in September 1940.

TRAILER PUMPS

Photos: Life magazine, LFB web site

During World War II, the National Fire Service operated trailer pumps to augment its fleet of fire engines. In London, the fire service hired 2,000 Austin taxis to tow the pumps. Depending upon the model, these appliances could pump from 120-gallons per minute to 900-gallons per minute, according to Neil Wallington's book ``Firemen at War.''

FIVE COVER - 1865

Photo: LFB web site

In 1865, the London Fire Engine Establishment - predecessor to the municipal fire brigade - operated 17 stations. Today, more than 100 stations provide fire cover.

"MEOW 999"

Photo: Euston Fire Station web site

Firefighters in central London go to the aid of "Pancake" the cat, stranded atop a chimney, according to the web site of the Euston Fire Station. www.eustonfirestation.com/

ON THE THAMES

Photo: London Fire Brigade
The fire brigade's Massey Shaw passes the House of Commons towards Lambeth river station in the 1950s.

RESTING AT FIRE

The painting Resting at Fire - oil on canvas by Reginald Mills, 1940 - depicits firemen during the Blitz, according to the London Fire Brigade web site

POLITICS

In 1891, the London County Council challenged Eyre Massey Shaw, chief fire officer, for control of the brigade. The council won, and Shaw retired after three decades. The cartoon by Tom Merry in St Stephen's Presentation Review satirised the conflict, according to the London Fire Brigade web site.

TELEGRAPH

Photos: LFB web site
Fire stations in 1889 and watch room telegraph

In the 19th Century, Eyre Massey Shaw - the first chief officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade - linked London's fire stations by telegraph.

In his 1867 book ``Fighting the Flames,'' author R. M. Ballantyne explained messages were relayed through a central office in an effort to improve response times and maintain adequate fire cover in each of the brigade's districts.

``When a fire occurs in any part of London ... the fire station nearest to it at once sends out its engines and men, and telegraphs to the head or centre station at Watling Street,'' Ballantyne wrote. (Actual alarms of fire were turned in by neighborhood runners paid a shilling per shout from the station purse.)

``From Watling Street the news is telegraphed to the foremen's stations, whence it is transmitted to the stations of their respective districts, so that in a few minutes after the breaking out of a fire the fact is known to the firemen all over London,'' according to Ballantyne's book.

FIREFIGHTER SAFETY

A study by the Fire Brigades Union says 2007 was the deadliest year in more than two decades for the U.K. fire service, with eight firefighters dying on duty. The study cited failure in risk assessment as a leading cause of fatalities. FBU leader Matt Wrack said: ``We have better fire engines, we have better equipment, including personal protective equipment. We have a better understanding of many of the risks we face. In theory at least we have better operational procedures. We should therefore have seen a decline in serious and fatal accidents."

DOCKLANDS ABLAZE

Photo: Museum of London
West India Docks, Sept. 7, 1941

The Docklands were a prime target for German bombers during the Blitz of 1940-41, and firefighters faced a variety of hazards.

In the 1949 book ``Fire Service Memoirs,'' Chief Fire Officer Aylmer Firebrace recalled:

``There were pepper fires, loading the surrounding air heavily with stinging particles so that when a fireman took a deep breath it felt like breathing fire itself.

``There were rum fires, with torrents of blazing liquid pouring from the warehouse door and barrels exploding like bombs themselves.

``There was a paint fire, another cascade of white hot flame, coating the pump with varnish that could not be cleaned off for weeks.

``A rubber fire gave forth black clouds of smoke that could only be fought from a distance, always threatening to choke the attackers.''

LADDER CREW - 1910

RETIRED FIREFIGHTERS

The Retired Members Association was formed in 1930. The RMA suspended operations when the fire brigade was nationalized for World War II. In 1948, the RMA was revived, according to its web site. Photos: RMA web site

RAILWAY FLOODING

Photo: London Transport Museum
May 6, 1915 - ``Two horse-drawn fire engines mounted in railway wagons are using steam to pump away flood water from the Metropolitan line tracks. The flooding under Ray Street Grid Iron near Farringdon Underground station followed a severe thunderstorm,'' according to the
Exploring 20th Century London Project.

GENERAL POST OFFICE

Photo: Wikipedia

On Aug. 24, 1912, a fire broke out in the telegraph equipment at the General Post Office at St. Martin's le Grand. According to The New York Times: ``The large force of firemen, who were quickly on the scene, had considerable difficulty in getting at the seat of fire, which was in a compartment containing wires between the instrument gallery and the floor below."

GOTHA RAIDS

During World War I, the Central Telegraph Office in London was set ablaze during a German air raid. The attackers were flying Gotha bombers, which replaced the Zeppelins in 1916.

Photos: U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission and BBC

LANDLORD IMPRISONED

A landlord has been sent to prison in the first custodial sentence to be given in London under the new fire safety regulations.

Mr Mehmat Parlak was sentenced to four months imprisonment and his company, Watchacre properties limited, were fined £21,000 following conviction for serious breaches of the regulatory reform order (RRO).

The prosecution followed a fatal fire at a flat on Ruskin Road, Tottenham on 16 September 2007. After being removed from the building by firefighters, a man was taken to hospital but died later from his injuries.

Councillor Brian Coleman AM FRSA, Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority which runs the London Fire Brigade said “This fire resulted in a man dying and highlights why landlords and businesses must take their responsibilities under the regulatory reform order seriously. The London Fire Brigade works hard to bring irresponsible companies and individuals to court, which can as this case has shown result in a custodial sentence.”

Sentencing of the company and their Director Mr Parlak, of Wellington Road, Enfield took place at Wood Green Crown Court on 20 October after they pleaded guilty to eight breaches of fire safety.

- London Fire Brigade press release

GARRICK'S VILLA

On Oct. 25, 2008, a 10-pump fire swept the former home of David Garrick, the 18th Century Shakespearean actor, in south-west London.

Photo: BBC web site

INCIDENT REPORT
11:29
H43 TWICKENHAM
10 PUMP FIRE, 2 AERIAL LADDER PLATFORMS, 2 HOSE LAYERS, 1 HIGH VOLUME PUMPING UNIT
194020081
GARRICKS VILLA, HAMPTON COURT ROAD, HAMPTON
Building under refurbishment of 3 floors, 36 metres x 20 metres, divided into 9 residential flats. 20% of ground floor damaged by fire, 50% of first floor, 75% of second floor and 75% of roof damaged by fire and collapse. 6 jets, 2 aerial ladder platforms, 3 lightweight portable pumps, 9 metre ladder, breathing apparatus. 6 persons left premises before arrival of brigade.

FBU SURVEY

Daily Mirror - Oct. 20, 2008

Firefighters feel they are not valued by the Government and that inadequate funding for training is compromising their safety. The "alarming" discontent is felt by most men and women in the Fire Brigades Union, revealed a poll of 2,000 of its members.

PSYCHIATRIC UNIT

On Oct. 15, 2008, a 20-pump fire swept a secure psychiatric unit on the grounds of the Chase Farm Hospital on The Ridgeway in Enfield.

Firefighters apparently encountered low hydrant pressure.

``The fire severely damaged the first floor and the roof of the three storey building,'' according to the London Fire Brigade web site. ``Part of the ground floor was also damaged by the blaze. Firefighters worked hard to stop the fire from spreading to surrounding buildings. ''

Sixty-eight patients were evacuated and no injuries were reported. The Daily Mail said the Camlet 3 facility houses ``mentally ill criminals.''

According to the Enfield Independent: ``About 140 firefighters and 20 fire engines worked through the night to control the blaze at its peak. Relief crews were summoned every four hours from depots throughout London.''

INCIDENT REPORT

18:33
A35 ENFIELD
20 PUMP FIRE, PERSONS REPORTED ALP REQUIRED
187836081
CAMLET LODGE, CHASE FARM HOSPITAL, THE RIDGEWAY, ENFIELD EN2
Secure mental health unit of 2 and 3 floors, 100 metres x 50 metres, 20 percent of ground floor, 75 percent of 1st floor and 75 percent of roof damaged by fire and collapsed, 68 patients and staff evacuated from building before arrival of brigade, led to safe area, in care of hospital staff, 10 jets, breathing apparatus, Ariel ladder platform, closed circuit water relay, thermal image camera, All persons accounted for.

GREAT MARLBOROUGH ST.

Photo: Soho Fire Station web site

In 1970, fire swept the building that once served as the Great Marlborough Street fire station, according to the web site of the Soho Fire Station. The Great Marlborough Street station opened in 1887 and closed about 1920.

MAN FROM MARS?

Photo: LFB web site
According to the London Fire Brigade web site: ``Fireman wearing a full protective asbestos suit and carrying a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher, World War Two .''

BUDGET 'UP IN FLAMES'

On Oct. 13, 2008, the New Statesman reported London Mayor Boris Johnson embarked on a round of budget cuts - including services at the London Fire Brigade.

Following is an excerpt from the article about Johnson and his Tory administration:

Johnson's proposed 15 per cent of cuts or 'savings' to Greater London Authority funding will not come into effect until next year but 28 notifications of potential redundancies have already been issued within London Fire Brigade.

Stating her concern, (Labour AM Valerie ) Shawcross said: “London's fire service is going up in flames and Boris Johnson is not interested.”

According to statistics produced by the service's Equalities Department 86 per cent of the service is white and male but it is the Equalities and Diversity Training Team that's in greatest danger.

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) Chairman Brian Coleman said: “We will just cut away the flab that's grown in the the organisation.”

Although many would argue this 'flab' works to prevent discrimination within the service.

The Fire Service's museum and library are also under threat although a passionate campaign against its closure has been launched.

Nothing is yet decided and the official line is that a “range of options are being considered” but when questioned the Boris-appointed chairman said the library would go.

Justifying the threats, Coleman said: “Cuts have to be made. We are in the middle of a recession and people don't have any money. I would have thought that was obvious, even to the New Statesman.”

THE GREAT FIRE

In the days before the London Fire Brigade, the Great Fire of London raged for five days during September 1666 - demonstrating the inadequacy of informal bucket brigades.

The conflagration started at the king's bakery on Pudding Lane.

According to the London Fire Brigade's web site, flames destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches and a variety of other buildings - including The Royal Exchange, The Guild Hall and the original St. Paul’s Cathedral.

``The death toll was six people, yet a great many others died through indirect causes,'' such as exposure during the harsh winter that followed, according to the brigade's web site.

Just the same, ``There were some benefits of the fire,'' the web site said. ``One of these was that the black plague which had killed many people was eliminated by the burning down of diseased, rat-infested properties.''

-0-

From Port Cities web site

Towards the end of the 17th century, an insurance industry began to develop in London. One branch of the industry became involved in offering fire policies to owners of buildings. Before long, the insurance companies employed their own fire teams - recruited from the Thames watermen - to put out fires at properties they insured.

To distinguish which buildings were covered by their policies, insurance companies devised 'fire marks' - special metal signs to be placed on the facades of insured buildings.

Unfortunately, private enterprise was not really up to the task of protecting the public. As insurance companies were interested in protecting only their clients, they would usually ignore any properties not insured or insured by other firms.

Even when a company's fire crew did turn up at a blaze, they would often leave the building to burn. Although various compromises were reached, it was not a satisfactory situation.

It took more than a century before it became clear that the free market in fire fighting was not providing adequate protection. In 1833, 19 insurance companies banded together to form the London Fire Engine Establishment.

It was headed by James Braidwood, who had pioneered a similar initiative in Edinburgh. The Establishment had 80 full-time officers, popularly known as 'Jimmy Braiders'.

BELLS GO DOWN

Photo: Euston Fire Station web site

GREAT ORMOND ST.

Photo: Evening Standard

INCIDENT REPORT

08:35
A27 CLERKENWELL
6 PUMP FIRE AND EXPLOSION
176963081
GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL

GREAT ORMOND STREET WC1
Children’s hospital of 8 floors, 100 meters x 100 meters, fire and explosion in cardiac wing on level 5, 50 percent of self contained unit approximately 4 meters x 4 meters damaged by fire. 1 jet, 1 hose reel, dry riser, breathing apparatus, detection identification monitoring equipment, thermal image camera, 23 patients and 12 members of staff evacuated from level 5, all uninjured. Approximately 300 members of public and staff evacuated and relocated in safe areas of the hospital. 4 members of brigade injured suffering shock, removed by London Ambulance Service.

'66'

Photo: Topical Press Agency
Emergency tender firefighters from Clerkenwell don breathing apparatus at a blaze at a rubber plant on Farringdon Street in 1925. At that time, Clerkenwell was designated Fire Station No. 66 as inscribed on the body of the tender. Today, Clerkenwell is designated ``Alpha 27.''

LADDER UP!

Photo: How Stuff Works

Classic photo of London Fire Brigade turntable ladder

SEPT. 18, 1940

Photo: Imperial War Museum
AFS recruits

During the Battle of Britain, Sept. 18, 1940 was a costly day for auxiliary fire crews on duty in London's famed Soho district.

German raiders pounded the city for 10 consecutive hours with especially lethal results in Soho.

Nine members of the Auxiliary Fire Service died:

• Auxiliary Fireman Myer Wand - at Rathbone Place
• Auxiliary Fireman Robert George - at Rathbone Place
• Leading Auxiliary Fireman George Bowen - at Rathbone Place
• Auxiliary Fireman Arthur Batchelor - at Rathbone Place
• Auxiliary Fireman Benjamin Mansbridge - at Rathbone Place
• Leading Auxiliary Fireman Jack Bathie - at Rathbone Place
• Auxiliary Fireman George Abrahart - at Rathbone Place
• Auxiliary Fireman Harold Gillard - at Oxford Street
• Auxiliary Fireman Donald Mackenzie - at Oxford Street

REGENT III PUMP ESCAPE

Photo: http://www.aecsouthall.co.uk/
MAUDSLAY REGENT III: ``With its low centre of gravity, the AEC Regent III double deck bus chassis was a particularly suitable carriage for a 100' turntable ladder, and in its shortened form, a pump escape,'' according to web site http://www.aecsouthall.co.uk/ ``From March 1950 until April 1957, the Regent III was supplied to fire brigades in the UK and around the world.''

FREDERICK DAVIES

London Auxiliary Fireman Frederick Davies, who died Aug. 23, 1945, was posthumously awarded the George Cross - the highest British award for bravery out of combat - for attempting to rescue two girls from a fire in Harlesden. He was 32.

---

The citation, published in the London Gazette, said the firefighter climbed an escape ladder as flames licked at the front of the building and upon reaching a window "he at once tried to enter but bursts of flame momentarily halted him. Undaunted, however, he climbed into the window with his back to the flames and entered the room. He was seen to endeavour to remove his tunic presumably to wrap it around and protect the children."

CHURCH FIRE

Photos: BBC web site

July 29, 2008
06:51
G36 HAMMERSMITH
15 PUMP PERSONS REPORTED FIRE
136619081
SHEPHERDS BUSH ROAD W6
Church of 1, 2 and 3 floors 20 metres by 35 metres, 70% of first floor, 70% of roof damaged by fire. 6 jets, 2 aerial monitors, breathing apparatus, thermal image camera, all persons accounted for, same as all calls.

SPECIAL SERVICE

London firefighters never know what they'll find ``when the bells go down.''

According to the Epsom Guardian newspaper, firefighters from the Kingston station cut a man from a ``a titanium chastity belt intended for sex games'' on June 27, 2008.

The man, who lost the key, ``spent all day trying to free himself from the device,'' the newspaper said. ``Three machines were needed to cut through the titanium.''

LONDON'S BOROUGHS

EDGWARE ROAD FIRE

On June 27, 2008, an 8-pump assignment - eight engines and 40 firefighters - responded to a high-rise fire on Edgware Road in Central London. ``Crews using a turntable ladder rescued four people from the 8th floor,'' according to the London Fire Brigade.

Photo: BBC

WALDORF SCHOOL - 2004

Photo: Waldor School web site

On June 26, 2004, fire destroyed the Waldorf School of South West London, which was built primarily of timber. There were no injuries. The fire broke out on a Saturday and classes resumed on Monday on the school's playing fields, according to the BBC.

AFTER THE RAID

World War II

Firefighter and child amid the bricks and rubble

Photo: BBC

DOCKHEAD STATION

``Dockhead Fire Station, which appeared in popular TV drama London's Burning, is to be demolished if a planned private finance initiative scheme goes ahead,'' according to the London SE1 community web site.

HOUNSLOW BURNING

Photo: Richmond Twickenham Times

On June 10, 2008, fire swept a block of flats at Bennett Close in Hounslow, according to the Richmond Twickenham Times. Firefighters rescued a man and escorted other occupants to safety, the newspaper said.

INCIDENT REPORT
09:18
G39 FELTHAM
15 PUMP FIRE PERSONS REPORTED
101467081
BENNETT CLOSE HOUNSLOW
Block of flats of 3 and 4 floors, 30m x 20m, 30% of 1st floor damaged by fire, 35% of 2nd floor damaged by fire, 40% of 3rd floor damaged by fire, 75% of roof damaged by fire and partial collapse. 1 person rescued from 1st floor flat by breathing apparatus crew via internal staircase, 11 persons led to safety by breathing apparatus crews from various floors, 8 persons escaped from various floors before arrival of brigade. 4 jets, 1 aerial ladder platform monitor, 1 hydraulic platform monitor, damage control tender, hose layer and water relay.

SUB-STATION FIRE

On June 8, 2008, firefighters extinguished a fire at the Sydenham Park Road electric sub-station in Forest Hill, the BBC said. The fire caused a power outage.

Photo: BBC

SOUTH HARROW BLAST

Photo: BBC web site

On May 7, 2008, an explosion caused the collapse of two homes at Stanley Road, South Harrow.

``Two people were taken to hospital and following a search of the premises the body of a man was discovered,'' the London Fire Brigade said. ``At the height of the incident six fire engines and around 30 firefighters were at the scene.''

John Gaffney, a fire brigade station manager quoted by the BBC, said firefighters used ``specialist listening equipment'' to search the rubble for casualties.

BUNCEFIELD DEPOT - 2005

The London Fire Brigade provided assistance for the Buncefield oil depot explosion at Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire on Dec. 11, 2005. he depot is located about 25 miles northwest of London. (Submitted by our OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT )

MORE PHOTOS:
http://www.buncefield-oil-fire-hemel-hempstead.wingedfeet.co.uk/

AFTERMATH

Click on photo to read caption

Aftermath of Crystal Palace fire - 1936
Illustrated London News
Submitted by OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

LINK TO FIRE JOURNAL STORY:
http://londonfirejournal.blogspot.com/2005/07/crystal-palace-1936.html

BRIXTON - 15 PUMPS

APRIL 5, 2008

``Fifteen fire engines and around 75 firefighters were called to a blaze at a shop with offices above on Brixton Road,'' according to a London Fire Brigade press release. ``The fire badly damaged the ground floor and completely destroyed the building's first, second and third floors and roof.''

Photo: BBC

TRAPPED ON TUBE

On April 3, 2008, a power failure on London Underground stranded thousands of commuters along the Jubilee Line. Firefighters went into action at North Greenwich in east London and "approximately 200 passengers were led to safety," said a London Fire Brigade spokewoman, quoted by Metro.

KENT JET CRASH

Photo: Telegraph TV, BBC

On March 30, 2008, the London Fire Brigade responded to the crash of a business jet that killed five people - including former racing driver David Leslie - at Farnborough, Kent. The Cessna jet was on a flight to France from nearby Biggin Hill airfield, according to the BBC.

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INCIDENT REPORT

E41 ORPINGTON
SIX PUMP AIRCRAFT CRASH, CYLINDERS INVOLVED, PERSONS REPORTED
ROMSEY CLOSE FARNBOROUGH
Twin jet engine aircraft crashed into two detached houses of two floors, 6 metres by 6 metres. Whole of aircraft destroyed by impact and fire.
No. 5 Romsey Close 100 percent damaged by fire, No. 4 Romsey Close 20 percent of first floor and whole of adjoining garage damaged by fire.
One foam branch from airport fire tender, two jets, two hosereels, breathing apparatus, and detection identification and monitoring equipment, thermal image camera.
One x 15kg propane cylinder involved, cooled, confirmed safe.
Five occupants of aircraft all confirmed dead on scene by HEMS doctor, all persons accounted for, same as all calls, tactical mode delta, all appliances detained.

HAZMAT GEAR

Photos of long-duration BA set used by London Fire Brigade for HAZMAT incidents and other extended operations. The double-cylinder set can provide for more than 45 minutes of air.

YOUTH PROGRAM

``THESE youngsters really got to grips learning about fire-fighting, in a scheme originally dreamed up to reduce anti-social behaviour in London's East End. The Local Intervention Fire Education project, known as Life, was started at Shadwell fire station." - East London Advertiser, March 12, 2008

NEW LOGO

The fire brigade's logo is getting a facelift, according to the magazine Design Week.

In its March 8 edition, the trade publication reports:

``London Fire Brigade is launching a new identity by Hertfordshire design group The Creative Consultancy, which will be applied across the capital in coming months.

``The aim of the identity, says the consultancy's creative director Teresa Sullivan, is to make the brand more consistent.

``According to a London Fire Brigade spokeswoman, the plan is to phase in the identity across all signage in London's 112 fire stations, as well as on fire engines, firefighters' uniforms and the website, as funds become available.''

FAMILY AFFAIR

PHOTO: Family archives

Firefighting is often a family affair with one generation following another into the service.

This is a portrait of Superintendent John Blyth of the London Salvage Corps, flanked by sons Herbert, on the left, and William, on the right.

The photograph - from the family archives - is believed to have been taken at the salvage corps station at Southwark Bridge Road, according to the Blyth's ancestors.

The salvage corps station - No. 3 - was located opposite the headquarters of the old Metropolitan Fire Brigade Station at Southwark and protected D District, which covered South London, according to Wikipedia.

TO READ MORE ON THE SALVAGE CORPS:

http://londonfirejournal.blogspot.com/2005/07/london-salvage-corps.html

FIRE ESCAPE SOCIETY

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

In the 19th Century, the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire operated a system of escape ladders across London.

Established in 1836, the rescue service - independent of the London Fire Engine Establishment - became operational in 1843, when six stations opened, each staffed by a sole fireman in a sentry box called a ``conductor.''

The escape ladder service was so successful that the number of stations outnumbered those of the regular fire brigade. By 1866, the number of rescue stations had increased to 1866, according to Haydn's Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information.

``In 1858, 504 fires had been attended, and 57 persona rescued,'' Haydn's said in its report on the society. ``In 1861, it was stated that 84 lives had been saved by the society's officers. In 1866, 695 fires had been attended, and 78 lives saved.''

Euston to Clerkenwell

In 1846, the Mechanics Magazine reported:

``The Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, since it was remodelled in 1843, has been progressing in usefulness, and consequently in public favour. The society has for some time past maintained twelve stations, at regular distances, from Eaton-square, Pimlico, to St. John-street, Clerkenwell.

``At each station there is a fire-escape and conductor, who is provided with a crowbar, axe, and rattle ; and it is the duty of each conductor to be with his machine (in the management of which he is well instructed) throughout the night, and to proceed with the same to a fire immediately on the first alarm.

``The report for 1845 is not yet published, but by reference to that for the former year it appears that one or more of the society's fire-escapes attended eighty fires, and happily saved the lives of ten persons, who, it is confidently believed, would have perished but for the timely aid thus offered to them.''

Drawbacks

Nonetheless, the machines had their drawbacks.

In the 1860 publication ``The Fireman's Own Book,'' author George P. Little wrote:

``The truth is, that most such require too much adjustment at the critical moment when their services are wanted; either they are in the hands and under the management of those who are too much agitated to do them justice, or they have to be brought from a distance, and to undergo a long process of adjustment.''

The Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire merged with the fire brigade in August 1867.

OXFORD CIRCUS - 1984

On Nov. 23, 1984, a fire at Oxford Circus station - the busiest on London's Underground - trapped almost 1,000 passengers in smoke-filled tunnels for three hours. The flames started started in a storage room. An investigation cited lax safety and warned: ``Luck has a habit of running out,'' according to the BBC. On Nov. 18, 1987 - almost three years to the date - an escalator fire at King's Cross underground station killed 31 people - including a firefighter.

BETHNAL GREEN - 1943

Photo: BBC

During an air raid alert on March 3, 1943, men, women and children descended a stairwell into the shelter at the Bethnal Green underground station in London's East End. Suddenly, the crowd surged- and the crush killed 173 people, including 62 children.

Jimmy Hunt, a messenger at the Roman Road fire station, was among those sent to assist at the scene of the disaster.

``We were just told to lay out the bodies and then load them on to lorries,'' said Hunt, quoted years later by the Daily Mail. ``One or two near the bottom were still alive. But most of the faces, they were all purple and mauve.''

The emergency services - as well as the people who witnessed the crush - were told to stay mum. The government had decided to classify the accident as a secret. Not a word of it was printed in the next day's newspapers.

According to the BBC, ``It later emerged that people were startled after hearing a new type of anti-aircraft rocket being launched in Victoria Park, a few hundred yards away.''

BUCKINGHAM PALACE - 2002

Photo: BBC

On June 2, 2002, fire broke out at Buckingham Palace. The flames, confined to the loft of the West Terrace, were extinguished within an hour.

Steve Newman, a firefighter quoted by the BBC, said: "We had around 20 pumps and the royal household has been fully informed. In the course of fire fighting, four people were escorted from the roof. They were staff who were guided down through the house. They were staff working on the roof.''

Scotland Yard said the Royal Family was away.

RAGGETT'S HOTEL - 1845

Illustration of hotel fire
(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 appartus.

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.''

FIRE STATIONS

Photo: BBC

The following ``point and click guide'' on all 112 London Fire Brigade stations is presented courtesy of http://www.lfbsite.com/- a marvelous source of information.

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STATIONS (by district and radio call sign)

(G) WESTERN COMMAND

G21 HarrowG22 StanmoreG23 HillingdonG24 SouthallG25 EalingG26 ActonG27 North KensingtonG28 WillesdenG29 Park RoyalG30 WembleyG31 NortholtG32 RuislipG33 KensingtonG34 Chelsea G35 FulhamG36 HammersmithG37 ChiswickG38 HestonG39 FelthamG40 HayesG56 Heathrow

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(A) NORTHERN COMMAND

A21 Paddington A23 EustonA24 SohoA25 WestminsterA26 KnightsbridgeA27 Clerkenwell A28 Dowgate A30 IslingtonA31 HollowayA32 HornseyA33 TottenhamA34 EdmontonA35 EnfieldA36 Southgate A37 BarnetA38 Mill HIllA39 Finchley A40 HendonA41 West Hampstead A42 BelsizeA43 Kentish Town

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(F) EASTERN COMMAND

F21 Stratford F22 PoplarF23 MillwallF24 ShoreditchF25 ShadwellF26 Bethnal Green F27 BowF28 HomertonF29 Leyton F30 LeytonstoneF31 KingslandF32 Stoke NewingtonF33 Whitechapel F34 Chingford F35 WoodfordF36 WalthamstowF37 HainaultF38 Romford F39 Hornchurch F40 WenningtonF41 Dagenham F42 IlfordF43 BarkingF44 East HamF45 Plaistow F46 Silvertown

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(H) SOUTH WESTERN COMMAND

H21 Clapham H22 LambethH23 Lambeth RiverH24 BrixtonH25 West NorwoodH26 Addington H27 Battersea H28 WoodsideH29 PurleyH31 CroydonH32 NorburyH33 WandsworthH34 WimbledonH35 Tooting H36 Mitcham H37 WallingtonH38 SuttonH39 SurbitonH40 New MaldenH41 KingstonH42 RichmondH43 Twickenham

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(E) SOUTH EASTERN COMMAND

E21 LewishamE22 Greenwich E23 East GreenwichE24 WoolwichE25 PlumsteadE27 ErithE28 Bexley E29 Lee GreenE30 ElthamE31 Forest HillE32 DownhamE33 SouthwarkE34 DockheadE35 Old Kent Road E36 DeptfordE37 PeckhamE38 New Cross E39 BromleyE40 SidcupE41 Orpington E42 Biggin Hill E43 Beckenham

ROTHERHITHE - 1871

Photo: National Maritime Museum, London

Illustration of ``The Great Fire at Rotherhithe'' shows members of the London Fire Brigade conducting salvage and overhaul.

The engraving - published in the Dec. 23, 1871 edition of the Illustrated London News - apparently depicts a fire that broke out on Oct. 24 of that year on Thames Street, destroying ``Nicholson's and other warehouses'' with ``great loss,'' according to Haydn's Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information.

Rotherhithe is located in the Docklands, on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames.

RUM QUAY FIRE - 1933

Photos: Port Cities London

On April 21, 1933, liquor-charged fire swept the Rum Quay at West India Docks and burned for four days. A main shed and vault were destroyed along with 6,500 puncheons - 3.1 million litres - of rum. The May 1, 1933 edition of Time Magazine said: ``Concussions rocked the warehouse and burning rum ran ... Blue flame fingered halfway across the Thames. London's brass-hatted firemen came by fireboat and engine. As the rum burnt, its evaporated alcohol made the firemen tipsy.'

FIREBOAT MASSEY SHAW

Photos: Little Ships Image Gallery

The fireboat Massey Shaw of the London Fire Brigade - named for Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, first chief officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade - is maintained today by a charitable trust. It was retired from active duty in 1971. Chief Shaw commissioned the city's first fireboats in the 1860s.

According to the web site of the television program Salvage Squad: ``Launched in 1935, the Massey Shaw was the first fireboat to be purpose-built for the Thames ... Two enormous diesel engines pushed the fireboat along at 12 knots. At the scene of the fire, these could be switched over to run two huge turbo pumps, pushing out over 3,000 gallons of Thames water per minute.

``The fireboat's first major call out or 'shout' was to the biggest fire London had seen for over 100 years. The rubber warehouse at Colonial Wharf burned for six days and was a difficult challenge for the new boat. But the Massey Shaw's pumping ability turned the boat into a hero. Working amongst the docks and wharves of the Port of London, the boat gained a place in the affections of Londoners.

``It was one of the craft that rescued troops in the Dunkirk evacuation at the beginning of the Second World War and fought fires throughout the London Blitz, playing a major role in saving St Paul's Cathedral.''

According to the web site Port Cities London, before the vessel's retirement, the Massey Shaw attended major fires at the Tate & Lyle works at Silvertown and aboard the Jumna at the Royal Albert Dock.

By 1866 - five years after Shaw took charge of London's fire service - two boats patroled the Thames. More ``fire floats'' joined the brigade's fleet.

In 1901, journalist Ernest A. Carr - writing in Living London, edited by George R. Sims - described the vessels in action: ``A message from the smaller station down at Blackwall intimates that a brig proceeding upstream has caught fire, and has been run aground … A strong glare of light round the next bend marks our objective, and a very few minutes more bring us abreast of the flaming vessel.

``There follow two hours of unremitting labour – aiding the crew of the fire-floats at their toil, taking wet lines aboard and fixing them to mooring posts and buoys, creeping down to windward of the flames to receive salvaged goods, and helping to fend the brig off by means of stout ropes into deeper water, where the volumes of water streaming in from the fire hose may submerge her.''

ORIGIN OF STOP MESSAGE

In the 19th Century novel ``Fighting the Flames,'' author R.M. Ballantyne provided a detailed description of the workings of the London Fire Engine Establishment - predecessor of today's London Fire Brigade. In one passage, he explained the origin of the ``stop message,'' which is broadcast today by radio to signal a fire is under control.

• When a fire occurred in any part of London at the time of which we write, the fire-station nearest to it at once sent out its engines and men, and telegraphed to the then head or centre station at Watling Street. London was divided into four districts, each district containing several fire stations, and being presided over by a foreman.
• From Watling Street the news was telegraphed to the foremen's stations, whence it was transmitted to the stations of their respective districts.
• While the engines were going to the fire at full speed, single men were setting out from every point of the compass to walk to it.
• In order, however, to prevent this unnecessary assembling of men when the fire was found to be trifling ... the fireman in charge of the engine that arrived first, at once sent a man back to the station with a `stop,` that is, with an order to telegraph to the central station ... and that all hands who have started from the distant stations may be `stopped.'
• Of course the man from each station had set out before that time, and the `stop' was too late for him, but it was his duty to call at the various fire stations he happened to pass on the way, where he soon found out whether he was to `go on` or to `go back.`

QUEEN OPENS NEW HQ

Queen Elizabeth at Southwark - 2008

King George at Lambeth - 1937

Photos: London SE1 community, London Fire Brigade

On Feb. 21, 2008, Queen Elizabeth officially opened the new London Fire Brigade Headquarters at Union Street, Southwark. ``The opening continues a royal tradition as Her Majesty’s father King George VI opened the previous HQ at Albert Embankment in July 1937,'' the fire brigade said.

HORSE PLAY

Photo from London Fire Brigade archives shows firefighters rescuing a horse from a construction site in 1940.

BLUE WATCH 7/7

It seemed like a routine "shout" for Alpha 242, an engine from the Soho fire station in central London. The printer read "smoke issuing" from a tube station. Within minutes, Aaron Roche and his crew on the Blue Watch were plunged into hell - the bombings of July 7, 2005.

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The following is excerpted from an article by Mark Townsend in the Oct. 9, 2005 edition of The Observer newspaper:

He found her bolt upright, sitting still in some sort of private hell. For an hour she had remained, unblinking in the gloom, hemmed in by corpses on either side. The two people stared at one another, each wondering how they had stumbled across such carnage that mild summer's morning.

She was an ordinary commuter who found herself at the epicentre of Britain's deadliest terrorist attack. He was firefighter Aaron Roche, the first person to enter carriage 346A of the 8.51am Piccadilly Line service from King's Cross after the 7 July bombs went off.

It was the 48th such service to leave London's busiest tube station that morning, each carriage crammed with commuters, many reading the newspaper coverage of London's Olympic triumph the previous day.

But what should have been a routine trip would, within moments, become part of London's history. Inside the 51ft by 9ft aluminium shell of 346A, 26 people died. It was the carriage where Britain's bloodiest attack since the Second World War took place; where the deadliest of the 7 July bombs was detonated.

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Until now Roche has been reluctant to articulate the horrors he found. But almost 100 days after coming across the macabre contents of 346A, the Blue Watch crew manager from London Fire Brigade's Soho station has offered an extraordinary account of what he saw that July morning.

It had just turned 10am when Roche began striding along the dark tunnel towards the stranded train. No one had a clue what had caused its sudden breakdown. Roche had begun to fear the worst, though, as he came across a bedraggled string of passengers, their blackened, bleeding faces almost invisible in the choking clouds of smoke.

The train itself, though, seemed in better shape. Structurally, it seemed fine, its windows smashed by fire extinguishers hurled by commuters desperate to escape. Inside it was a different story. Passengers lay sprawled in each carriage, some nursing wounds, others simply too shocked to move.

As the pale-faced, softly-spoken fireman crept towards the first carriage, a sense of dread began to consume the 31-year-old. The smoke was becoming thicker, the air increasingly acrid, the wounds of passengers noticeably more debilitating.

Finally, Roche reached the entrance to the first carriage, 346A; this time there was no door left to yank open. He edged through a knot of twisted metal and peered inside. A thick dust cloud had yet to settle. Beneath, it felt slippy underfoot. Gasping for breath, Roche felt instantly that something terrible had occurred. As he turned his torch on to the carriage contents, the thin sliver of light illuminated its horrors.

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Arms lay severed at the shoulder; individual legs blown from their owners' bodies lay bent at impossible angles. In the dim light Roche made out a head. Nearby was a legless torso. It was impossible to determine which limb belonged to whom. At either end of 346A, bodies lay three to four feet deep. In its centre, though, the floor was clear.

On closer inspection, Roche discovered a metallic crater, the point where suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay had detonated his rucksack of explosives. 'The dust was still thick; it was hard to see to the other end of the carriage. At this stage it was difficult to gauge the number of casualties because all skin tissues were grey with dust.

'It was very dark. Slowly, I began to make out body parts - the legs and arms of people. Limbs that I couldn't tell which body they belonged to.'

At first, Roche deduced that everyone in 346A must be dead. Then he saw the elderly woman. She was yards from where the imposing frame of 19-year-old Lindsay had settled as he counted down the moments before detonating his explosives.

'She was staring back at me. I can remember the whites of her eyes so clearly because the rest of her was just covered in dust,' Roche said. Then from behind came a low moan. Roche turned disbelievingly. It was coming from beneath a mound of corpses.

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'There was a sea of bodies and body parts at either end of the carriage. If you looked hard enough, you could see bodies shifting and twitching underneath piles of bodies.'

Roche called out to two colleagues who had followed him and together they began dragging off the corpses from those still breathing. In the minutes that followed, they remember hearing the soft accent of a Geordie man offering his gratitude as they freed his foot trapped from beneath a seat.

Blue Watch dragged six people alive from carriage 346A, some with miraculously minor injuries. The elderly woman sustained only a sore ankle.

The last survivor pulled from the carriage was Garri Holness from Streatham, south London, found lying on the blood-soaked floor among dead passengers. Scarred all over from the blast, Holness already knew he had lost part of his left leg. Some time later, the 37-year-old would tell how he wanted each day to be 'beautiful' from now on.

By now it was obvious to Roche that they needed help. No one above them had any idea of the atrocities they had encountered, nor that terrorists were to blame. Similarly, Roche could not know that, 150ft above him, the capital was already adjusting to the reality that London had suffered its first successful bomb attack on the London Underground in its 142-year history.

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Not only had the suicide bombers struck the Piccadilly Line, but within moments they had struck at Aldgate tube station, where seven died; at Edgware Road, where six were killed; and an hour later on the Number 30 bus at Tavistock Square, in which 13 people died.

'I wanted to radio, but we were so far down the tunnel we had lost communication,' said Roche. He had to make his way back up to the station concourse. As he ran from the train, barely discernible down the tunnel Roche could just about make out the forms of two bodies 100 yards away, hurled from the carriage when the bomb exploded.

Another corpse was found with its legs sheared off; it too had been blown through the window and dismembered as the train hurtled on for another hundred yards or so. It was then Roche recalls a profound sense of loneliness, induced by a suffocating, almost unbearable sense of quiet.

'It sounds strange, but the silence was deafening in that tunnel,' he said. He did hear one scream, a wail from a woman beneath the train. 'She was screaming for help, she must have seen my legs as I ran,' he said. Roche faltered as he toyed with whether to free her, but then he remembered the cold, bureaucratic language of their emergency coda; he had to keep moving; he had to let the world know of the horrors he had seen.

When police officers subsequently interviewed Blue Watch to recount what they had found that morning, some tentatively asked how those they had saved were doing. But Roche could never bring himself to ask if the woman beneath the train survived. 'I never followed up what happened to her. I can't bear to think she didn't make it. I still feel guilty.'

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The call-out that came at 9.04am on 7 July seemed as routine as they come. Roche and his crew boarded engine Alpha 242 and set off. In his hand a strip of tickertape read: 'Smoke issuing at Euston Square tube' alongside the order that they should head as back-up to King's Cross nearby. They remember the traffic being bad. By the time they pulled up outside King's Cross, it was 9.13am.

Seventeen minutes earlier, three bombs had crippled the network but, as Roche trooped on to the station concourse, his was the only emergency vehicle parked outside the network's most vital hub.

Emerging from the underground escalator came a stream of shellshocked passengers. Faces were blackened - something was burning in the labyrinth below. More passengers followed, hundreds of them. Pass-engers were appearing with broken noses, blood coming from deep facial cuts.

'Not only was there extensive blackening; we started seeing classic collision injuries,' he said. 'Gradually they were becoming more severe.'

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Although London had planned - almost waited - for such an eventuality, the minutes after the terrorist explosions held a surreal quality, marked by flashes of improvised decision-making from those like Roche alongside odd episodes of semi-confusion when the truth began to emerge. Colleagues tried to radio for more back-up, but the system was overloaded.

'I couldn't get through [on the radio]; that has never happened before,' said Simon Wilson, who was standing near Roche. Half-wondering what could have caused such a meltdown, the 37-year-old was forced to use his mobile phone to call for help.

Roche, meanwhile, decided to send two firefighters down to the platform. They returned gasping soon after with tales of corpses, the smell of burning flesh clinging to their nostrils. Roche immediately declared it an 'eight-pump incident', a major event. But outside, central London had ceased to function like a world city; traffic could barely move. Fellow members of Blue Watch were forced to abandon their appliances on their way to King's Cross and half-walk, half-run, complete with kit.

Around 40 minutes after Roche arrived, his first colleagues arrived on foot, startled at the hundreds being treated by Roche and his men in the cavernous waiting hall of King's Cross. Roche signalled his men to pick up their cutting gear, the equipment used to slice open cars in traffic accidents, and grab their torches. They were going down.

They could scarcely believe it. Roche and the crews of Alpha 242 and Alpha 241 had been back at headquarters after dealing with carriage 346A for barely enough time to grab a shower and sandwich when the tickertape machine printed out a fresh challenge. A man in a pub was claiming to be carrying a bomb. During those early strange, surreal hours of 7 July, anything seemed possible. This time, though, there was no bomb; only a drunk.

FIRE WARNING FOR U.K.

Overcrowded immigrant housing is creating a major fire risk across the U.K., the BBC reports, and a senior fire official is speaking out.

Peter Holland, chief fire officer of the Lancashire fire service, said:

``I'm seriously concerned that somewhere in the UK we're going to have a multiple fire death ... The problem's been exacerbated by the influx of Eastern European migrants, who are moving into the highest risk properties that we have here in the UK, where we're already struggling to maintain fire precautions.''

According to the BBC, 28 people escaped from a fire in an immigrant hotel in North London last year, while fires in Belfast and Yorkshire killed three Polish workers.

LFB READING LIBRARY

• UNDER FIRE - By Ray Chilton ... This is a gritty tale - of passion and professionalism, and humor and heartache - about 20 years at one of the world's most exciting fire stations, Soho at the heart of London's West End. Ray Chilton was a firefighter for over 30 years. Chilton describes major incidents such as the Oxford Circus tube fire, the Aldwych bus bomb and a fire at The Royal Academy of Art. Retired New York firefighter Dennis Smith - author of best-selling Report from Engine Co. 82 - describes Chilton's book as "a great and thrilling narrative" and says "most of all it made me realize just how universal the work and the culture of firefighters is.''
• TO RIDE A RED ENGINE - By Dave Wilson ... This book tells you what it is like to do just that. The author, who served for 27 years, gives a fascinating account of his life as a London fireman. From attending the biggest fire in post-war London to achieving the Chief Officer's Commendation for bravery, this book takes you through the highs of saving lives to the lows of child deaths. Skilfully blending drama with farce, it will have you chuckling out loud. Described in American reviews as ''the best first-person account of firefighting ever!''
• GREAT FIRES OF LONDON - By Neil Wallington ... London landmarks - King's Cross, Crystal Palace, Moorgate, Ladbroke Grove - have been the scenes of fires and emregencies that tested the professionalism and resolve of the fire service. The drama of these and scores of other incidents are brought sharply into focus in Great Fires of London by Neil Wallington, a book which traces the historical life and times of the London Fire Brigade from its origins in the early 19th century up to the present day.The book contains 187 prints and black and white photographs and 113 color photographs.
• FIRE AND WATER - Anthology edited by H. S. Ingham ... A classic written and illustrated by London firefighters during the 1940-1941 Blitz. The book forms a unique record of one of the most fiery and dramatic periods of British History.
• THE LONDON BLITZ: A FIREMAN'S TALE - By Cyril Demarne ... Prior to September 1939, the author had been fighting fires in the East End of London for 14 years. On the outbreak of war he became one of the nucleus of professional firemen preparing the Auxiliary Fire Service for the maelstrom of the Blitz. This work presents the true story of ordinary men and women in extraordinary circumstances who, with fortitude and great courage, became very far from ordinary.

EXPLOSION!

Photo: AFP

Six Pumps - Harrow

On Feb. 15, 2008, six engines and 30 firefighters responded to a report of a gas explosion at a row of flats in Harrow. ``A man suffering from serious burns was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service crews,'' the fire brigade said.

MIND THE CHIPS

Across the U.K., chip pan fires cause about 30 deaths and almost 3,000 injuries annually, according to the London Fire Brigade. This is a photo of a safety demostration.

CAMDEN MARKET - 20 PUMPS

UPDATED FEBRUARY 2008

Photos: LFB and BBC

On Feb. 9, 2008, fire ravaged the stalls at Camden Town market, a major tourist attraction. Leaping flames - visible for miles - spread to the popular Hawley Arms pub and other buildings on a busy Saturday night. There were no serious injuries and the market reopened a week later.

Camden Town is ``a much-loved pocket of bohemia and a part of London where black eyeliner and tattoos usurp Savile Row threads as the urban uniform,'' according to The Scotsman newspaper.

An estimated 450 people were evacuated from the market and another 100 were moved from their homes.

According to a fire brigade press release: ``Twenty fire engines and around 100 firefighters were called to a fire on Chalk Farm Road in Camden. A range of market storage areas, shops, dwellings and two pubs were severely damaged by the blaze.'' An adjoining railway bridge and arches were also damaged.

Firefighters employed a hydraulic platform monitor, 15 jets, a variety of ground ladders and breathing apparatus.

Fire Station Manager Guy Foster, quoted by the BBC, said: "When firefighters arrived they found an intense fire. The decision was taken to clear a large area around the fire because we believed there were propane gas canisters in some of the market stalls.

``The police had to carry out a large operation to clear what is a very busy area on a Saturday night,'' Foster added.

The fire brigade received the alarm at 7:10 p.m., and the blaze was declared under control about six hours later. The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known. The first two engines arrived at the fire within minutes, according to reports.

According to The Evening Standard, Ruth Mottram, an owner of the Hawley Arms pub, was critical of the firefighters' response, saying: ``When our staff called the fire brigade the fire was a long way away from us.''

However, London Mayor Ken Livingstone, quoted by The Guardian, praised firefighters, saying: "Yet again the emergency services deserve our thanks for the speed and professionalism with which they have responded to tackle the blaze."

Val Shawcross, chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, also offered praise, saying: ``London’s fire brigade demonstrated outstanding professionalism in bringing this difficult and dangerous fire under control, preventing it from spreading further and without a single casualty.

``Considering the fierce fire that fire crews found when they arrived at the incident we should recognise what a very good job they did in bringing it under control so quickly,” Shawcross said.

Assessing the aftermath, the BBC said: ``In all 90 stalls were damaged, 35 of them extensively. In addition six shops and the Hawley Arms have been affected.''

Bus Accident

In a related incident, a double decker bus - diverted along Prince of Wales Road because of the fire at Camden market - crashed into a bridge on Feb. 11. The crash tore through the top deck of the bus and injured six people. One of the victims, a man, suffered severe head injuries, a police spokesman told the BBC.

BISHOPSGATE - 1964

Early on Dec. 5, 1964, fire destroyed the Bishopsgate railway station, London's main freight terminal. Sixty pumps and 300 firefighters battled the blaze that illuminated the skies and killed two customs officials, Reuters reported. The United Press International wire service said the fire "engulfed drums ot gasoline and thousands of cases of bonded whisky.''

CHANCE THE FIRE DOG

Modern fire dog

The first canine officially documented as a fire dog was ``Chance'' of the London Fire Engine Establishment in 1828.

In a letter to the The Fireman magazine published in the 1800s, an old London fireman recalled: ``Fire after fire he attended until he was well known in London as 'Chance, the watermen firemen's dog.' Chance remained a faithful friend of the firemen for many years. He ultimately went nearly blind; even then he used to follow the engine,'' according to the book The Firefighters Best Friend.

While Chance wasn't a dalmation - his breed was never determined - ``he was known for following the crew to every fire and rescuing several people,'' the book said. ``He rotated throughout the firehouses in London, spending a few days at each house. As a result, every firefighter in London knew him.''

What's more, firemen took a collection to buy a brass dog collar with the inscription: ``Stop me not, but onward let me jog, for I am Chance, the London Firemen's dog.''

When he passed away, London newspapers published obituaries, and ``one paper reported that while on his deathbed, Chance tried unsuccessfully to rise up and follow the men one last time as they rushed to a fire,'' the book said.

After his passing ``his favorite house at the Central Station of the London Fire Brigade paid a taxidermist to stuff him and place him in a glass case,'' the book said. ``After the taxidermist completed his work, he decided to instead sell the famous dog to a showman on the other side of town, who let visitors glimpse the dog for a penny. The showman unknowingly allowed a fireman in for a viewing. Several hours later, the entire squad returned to retrieve their dog.''

The firemen mounted the case in the fire station, and placed a memorial plaque nearby that read: ``Chance, well known as the firemen's dog. Died October 10, 1835. This is humbly inscribed by the Committee of London Fire Establishment and their obedient servants.''

WIMBLEDON BROADWAY

Photo: Wimbledon Fire Station

Fire gutted the Woolworths store on Wimbledon's Broadway in 1981 - claiming the life of a member of the London Fire Brigade.

According to the Wimbledon Fire Station web site, Firefighter Tony Marshall died in the line of duty on April 30, 1981.

Sadly, less than a month later on May 24, 1981, Firefighter Barry Trussell was killed at a fire at St George's Hospital on Blackshaw Road, according to the web site.

MAKE PUMPS 500!

From Times Online, Feb. 15, 2007:

``Cyril Demarne was a sub officer in the West Ham Fire Brigade instructing the Auxiliary Fire Service when war was declared. On the the first day of the London Blitz, September 7, 1940, he recalled a `lovely sunny day. There were about 300 German aircraft. Some flew along the waterfront from North Woolwich to the tidal basin and bombed the big factories. [They] had thousands of people in them and there were horrendous casualties.'

``Three miles of the waterfront became a continuous blaze, and Demarne ordered 500 pumps to the scene. The commander thought this exaggerated and sent someone down to see. The man reported back that 1,000 engines were needed. ''

DeMarne survived the war and died Jan. 28, 2007. He was 101.

HEATHROW CRASH

Photos: BBC and Press Association

British Airways Flight 38 from Beijing crash-landed short of a runway at London’s Heathrow Airport on Jan. 17, 2008. The airline said 136 passengers and 16 crew escaped on emergency slides. There were more than a dozen minor injuries. Airport firefighters applied blankets of foam to the wreckage to prevent leaking jet fuel from erupting in flame.

-

INCIDENT REPORT

12:43
G56 HEATHROW
AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT
HEATHROW AIRPORT, RVP SOUTH

1 Boeing 777 crash landed adjacent to runway. 136 passengers and 16 crew safely evacuated via escape chute. 11 casualties suffering minor injuries removed by L.A.S. 30-35 persons being assessed in triage at survivors reception centre. Foam blanket laid by Airport Fire Service and LFB. 1 Hose Laying Lorry, 3 Bulk Foam Units, 3 Airport Fire Service Foam Tenders,6 Foam Branches, 3500 litres of LFB foam used.

-

INITIAL DISPATCH

MOBILISE MOBILISE MOBILISE

INC. 9164081

TOC 12:43:43

TEL. REF MG AIRCRAFT CRASH, E3

@ AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT

@ RVP SOUTH

SOUTHERN PERIMETER ROAD

HAL

HOUNSLOW

MIDDLESEX

TW6

58.Q/98 G56 TQ 07468 74189

RUNWAY 27 LEFT

G561 @ G56 AS PA, 135, RTA, WMR, RT

G392 @ G39 AS PA, RTA

G401 @ G40 AS PA, 135, RTA, WMR

G382 @ G38 AS PA

G381 @ G38 AS PA

H431 @ H43 AS PA

G242 X RT @ G24 AS USRS

SR15 @ A34 AS USR

G306 @ A40 AS USRC, HRTA

H276 @ H27 AS USRC

E216 @ E21 AS USRC

H429 X RT @ H42 AS HLR

CU6 X PAG @ H43 AS CU

H387 @ H38 AS BFU, PM CARRYING BFU3

M20 @ H31 AS USM4, PMU CARRYING S044 USAR MODULE 4

M21 @ H31 AS USM1, PMU CARRYING S041 USAR MODULE 1

O20P X PAG @ O20 AS MRU

G104 X PAG @ G38 AS GM

G40 X PAG @ G56 AS SM

G23 X PAG @ G23 AS SM

G24 X PAG @ G24 AS HZ

E79 X PAG @ H39 AS UA

H42 X PAG @ H42 AS PR

SMOKE ACROSS LONDON

Photos: BBC

On Nov. 12, 2007, 85 firefighters battled a blaze in an abandoned warehouse on on Waterden Road in East London. At the height of the fire, the warehouse was completely alight. Dave Brown, the fire brigade’s Assistant Commissioner for Service Delivery, said: ``We had 150 calls into the brigade’s control room about this incident, with a large plume of smoke seen over the capital.''

ABOUT THE LFB

UPDATED MARCH 2009





"You belong to a force which has a long and honourable tradition of gallantry and devotion to duty ... your duties remain arduous and difficult and call for a high standard of physical fitness ... I am confident that the London Fire Brigade will maintain these qualities to the highest degree". - HRH Edward, Prince of Wales, speaking at review of London Fire Brigade at Victoria Park in August 1929 (SOURCE: AllBusiness.com)

Welcome to the LONDON FIRE JOURNAL - an online history book about the London Fire Brigade, one of the world's oldest fire departments. Today's brigade is the third-largest fire department in the world with 6,800 employees - including 5,800 firefighters and officers - and 112 stations. Busy stations average 2,000 or more calls a year.

This project took shape following visits to the historic Clerkenwell, Lambeth and Euston fire stations in August 2001. Your editor thanks the following members of the London Fire Brigade for their their hospitality: Robin Whittington, Terry Chaplin, Dave Seaman, Alex Spreadbury, Steve Bowes and John Deans.

FIRE COVER

The London Fire Brigade provides ``fire cover'' according to a system of risk categories traditionally used across the United Kingdom. The risk category determines the minimum number of appliances dispatched to an incident.

• "A" risk - Areas with high density of large buildings and/or population, for example office blocks or factories. Three fire engines to be sent within eight minutes, the first two to arrive within five minutes.
• "B" risk - Areas with medium density of large buildings and/or population, for example multi-storey residential blocks. Two engines deployed, one within five minutes, the second within eight minutes.
• "C" risk - Low density suburban areas and detached properties. One fire engine to be sent within ten minutes.
• "D" risk - Rural areas. One fire engine to be sent within twenty minutes.

PUMPS

The Dual Purpose Ladder - DPL - is the standard type of firefighting, with about 170 in operation across London. The brigade took delivery of a fleet of 216 Mercedes-Benz Atego pumps with new Plastisol bodywork between 2002 and 2007. According to Wikipedia, the standard engine has 13½m and/or 9m ladder extensions, eight 18m lengths of hose, four 25m lengths of thinner hose, cutting equipment, a portable generator, a lightweight portable pump, water-packs, inflatable air bags, road signs, floodlights, a medical kit, hose ramps, general tools, chemical suits and breathing apparatus. DPLs weigh in at around 11.2 tonnes, and are approximately 7.7m long, 2.3m wide and 3.2m high, carry 1,365 litres of water, and have a pumping capacity of 3,910 litres per minute.

RADIO SIGNALS

Code1 - Small structure fire
Code 2 - Small rubbish/outdoor fire
Code 3 - Chimney fire
Code 4 - False alarm due to AFA
Code 5 - False alarm, good intent call
Code 6 - False alarm malicious
Code 7 - Special service

Status 1 - At station
Status 2 - Enroute
Status 3 - Arrived
Status 5 - Mobile to cover another station
Status 6 - Mobile and available for a call
Tactical Mode OSCAR - Offensive (interior attack)
Tactical Mode DELTA - Defensive (exterior attack)
Tactical Mode TANGO - Transitional

COMMAND LEVELS

INCIDENT ... OFFICER IN CHARGE
Pumps 1 ... Crew Manager
Pumps 2-4 ... Watch Manager
Pumps 5-6 ... Station Manager
Pumps 7-8 ... Group Manager
Pumps 9-12 ... Deputy Assistant Commissioner (formerly known as Area Manager)
Pumps 13+ ... Brigade Manager (Senior officers)

ENHANCED MEDICAL RESPONSE

In November 2007, Camden firefighters became the first in London to carry improved first aid equipment - including defibrillators, suction devices to maintain open airways, cervical spinal collars and improved wound dressings. Primary responsibility for emergency medical care remains with the London Ambulance Service.

'SHOUTS' - 2008

UPDATED MARCH 2008

HOTEL FIRE

Photo: Sky News

On March 7, 2008, fire broke out at the Custom House Hotel on Victoria Dock Road in the Dockland.

The 10-pump fire damaged around half of the hotel's top floor and forced the evacuation of 100 people to a nearby school, according to the fire brigade.

-0-

TIMBER YARD ABLAZE

Photos: News Shopper and Kent Online

``Ten fire engines and around 50 firefighters are attending a blaze at a timber yard on Maple Road in Penge. A timber yard and shed, 30 metres by 50 metres is completely alight. There is heavy smoke which is spreading to adjacent shops and homes.''

- London Fire Brigade press release, Feb. 14, 2008

-0-

INCIDENT RECALLS MARCHIONESS

Photo: Daily Mail

On Jan. 26, 2008, London firefighters helped prevent the sinking of a pleasure cruiser on the River Thames - an incident that recalled the loss of Marchioness party boat two decades earlier.

According to Press Association, the 288-ton Millennium City ``got into difficulties after holing its bow.'' Firefighters pumped and sealed the vessel's engine room. The 35 passengers were evacuated at Westminster pier. There were no injuries.

Passenger Ajay Jaswal said : "We were all dancing to the YMCA when the boat just lurched to one side. People just fell to the floor, then glasses smashed around us and the lights went out. It was really quite frightening. They told us all to come to the front of the boat as the back end was sinking but we all managed to get off safely in the end."

Just the same, The Daily Mail said the accident rekindled memories of the Aug. 20, 1989 sinking of the pleasure cruiser Marchioness that killed 51 people.

The Marchioness, which was packed with young party-goers, collided with the 260-foot gravel dredger Bowbelle. That ``disco boat'' left Charing Cross pier at 1:25 a.m. for a birthday party for banker Antonio de Vasconcellos, 26.

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

1989 Sinking

At 1:46 a.m., the passengers and crew aboard the Hurlingham witnessed the collision with the dredger 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 -- and the police, in turn, sent fire brigade boats, as well as land vehicles, the wrong way. 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 the following situation report to the control room, according to the Fire Brigade's chronology: ``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.

_____

OLD BARBICAN FIRE STATION BURNS

Photo: Sun

On Jan. 10, 2008, flames ripped through a training tower at the former Barbican fire station and winds blew embers towards other buildings, the Islington Gazette reported. Six engines and 30 firefighters attended the incident.

Clerkenwell fire station watch manager Peter Newton said: "There is scaffolding erected around the old drill tower which is about four to five storeys high. The fire started at the top. There are timber boards on each level and sheets on the outside of it so it was going quite well and the strong wind was spreading it. A lot of burning embers were flying off so we put jets on the surrounding buildings to protect them."

_________

RESCUE AT BUILDING COLLAPSE

On Jan. 8, 2008, the London Fire Brigade’s Urban Search and Rescue teams freed a builder from a house that had partially collapsed in Purley, South London. The roof and the upper floor caved in, trapping the builder under a steel beam.

Borough Commander Dave Whiting said: “This was a difficult, hazardous, but ultimately highly successful rescue, which took several hours and demonstrated what a valuable addition the USAR teams have proven to be. Throughout, our urban search and rescue teams worked closely with the London Ambulance Service, the Helicopter Emergency Response Service and the Metropolitan Police. The co-ordinated response was a testament to the close working relationship of all the emergency services.”

Since being formed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the USAR teams – which specialise in the location and rescue of casualties trapped in confined spaces - have been deployed to a number of incidents, including a crane collapse in Battersea and Croydon, a building collapse in Commercial Road, Whitechapel, a tornado in Kensal Green and a trapped construction worker in Westminster.

_____

EARTHQUAKE

On Feb. 27, 2008, the London Fire Brigade received just a handful of telephone calls when an earthquake rocked eastern England though a tremor was felt in the brigade's control room in Greenwich, southeast London, the BBC reported.

None of the calls to the brigade required the attendance of London's firefighters as ``the epicentre of the 5.2 magnitude quake was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire'' - 125 miles north of London, according to the BBC. Nearer communities, however, reported damage - including toppled chimneys.