HUDDERSFIELD - 1941

Photos: ITV, Examiner

On Oct. 31, 1941, fire swept H. Booth & Son clothing factory in Huddersfield, England, claiming 49 lives. Recalling the fire, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner said:  "The five-story clothing factory had only one staircase, no evacuation drill and a buzzer system which failed." The cause was deemed to be "a smoker’s pipe left alight inside a raincoat pocket," Wikipedia said.

COVENT GRADEN - 1949

On Dec. 21, 1949, fire broke out in stacks of Christmas trees stored in catacombs beneath London's Covent Garden flower market - and burned for more than a day.

A fireman died; many others were injured, according to press reports.

More than 1 million gallons of water were pumped into the catacombs.

In some spaces, the water rose as high as as five feet.

Armed with pneumatic drills, the fire brigade bored holes in concrete floors allowing smoke to escape.

In a report to the London City Council on Jan. 24, 1950,  Chief Fire Officer F. W. Delve deemed the fire brigade's performance as "satisfactory."

However, historical notes on the website Fire Net cite a variety of shortcomings.

Men worked alone. "In trying to rescue a colleague, one fireman became so exhausted he barely made it back to street level to summon assistance."

As it was still the day of the "smoke eater," firemen who donned breathing apparatus (BA) often times didn’t use the equipment until they had inhaled copious amounts of smoke.

Additionally:

No one was taking count of firemen entering the premises; communications were "bad to non-existent"; no minimum charging pressure for BA cylinders, with many only two-thirds full.

GREEN GODDESS

Photo: Daily Express
From 1953 to 2004, the British government maintained a fleet of "Green Goddess" reserve fire engines for civil defense and national emergencies. Photo above shows military firefighters and "Green Goddess" at fire in Cambridge during 2002 fire strike. The engines were also used during the 1977 fire strike.

Illustration: BBC