CHURCHILL - 1940

Photo: Churchill College

Churchill inspects bomb damage in London on Sept. 10, 1940; firemen seem to pay no mind. The Blitz enhanced the public standing of the fire service, and Churchill dubbed its members "Heroes with grimy faces."

COVENT GARDEN THEATRE -1856

On March 5, 1856, fire destroyed the Covent Garden Theatre in London. A bystander reported: "The flames had burst through the roof, throwing high up into the air columns of fire, which threw into bright reflection every tower and spire within the circuit of the metropolis, illuminating St. Paul’s as if gilded with burnished gold."

SHOREDITCH SHOUT - 2010

Photo: Stephen McKay
March 11, 2010 - View from City Road of fire on Worship Street.

DUDGEONS WHARF - 1969

Editor's Note: The following article is rewritten from a report into this incident published in “FIRE” magazine dated November 1970. The 17th July 1969 saw a tragic and sudden explosion take the lives of 5 of London’s firemen; here is the story of what happened.

Dudgeons Wharf on the Isle of Dogs consisted of a “tank farm” of more than 100 tanks of various capacities up to 200,000 gallons and used for storing oils and spirits on a plot which measured 350 ft. x 300 ft. The demolition contractors had received advice on safety before starting the demolition of these tanks to enable regeneration of the site.

Tank 97 on this site was of a welded construction measuring 27 ft in diameter and 35 ft high. It held 125,000 gallons. Two manhole covers, one on the roof and one at ground level, were held shut with steel plates secured by nuts and bolts. This tank had been empty for two years but had previously held Myrcene (a member of the turpentine family). This chemical would leave a thick, gummy deposit on the inside of the tank. This deposit could be easily ignited or when heated would give off a flammable vapour which, if mixed with air, is potentially explosive.

 At 11.21 am on Friday 17th July a call was made to a fire on the North bank of the River Thames at Millwall, covered by London’s “F Division”. Less than 2 weeks before this incident a fire had occurred on the same site where 40 firemen and 8 pumps using 6 jets and 2 foam making branches had tackled a fire involving waste oil in a derelict oil tank. The brigade had also attended numerous other small fires on the site, caused by sparks from hot cutting gear used by workmen cutting the tanks.

On receipt of the call 2 appliances consisting of a pump escape and pump were ordered from Millwall Fire Station and one pump from Brunswick Road. The foam tender from East Ham was also ordered followed later by the fireboat “Massey Shaw” from Greenwich. The fire brigade arrived very quickly with Station Officer Innard in command. He enquired about the fire situation but was given misleading information. He not unreasonably thought that the fire was probably out but decided to make sure by putting a spray branch into the top of the manhole which had been removed from the top of Tank 97.

Sub Officer Gamble with Firemen Appleby, Breen, Carvosso and Smee joined him on top of the tank alongside Mr Adams, one of the workmen. It is thought that using the spray branch caused air to be drawn in and mixed with the flammable vapours given off by the burning or hot Myrcene deposits greatly increasing the risk of an explosion.

Station Officer Innard along with Station Officer Snelling decided to look into the tank from the bottom manhole to see if any fire remained and, if so, direct the positioning of the spray branch. This involved opening the bottom manhole cover. Station Officer Snelling sent a fireman to fetch a spanner to remove the bottom manhole cover. The members of the brigade could not undo the nuts so an unidentified person suggested the nuts should be burned off.

Station Officer Innard descended from the top of the tank to see what was going on. An employee working on the demolition of the tank farm applied a cutting torch to one of the nuts. As soon as the cutting flame was applied to the first nut, the vapours inside the tank ignited almost instantaneously blowing off the roof of the tank together with the 5 firemen and workman. This was probably due to flames or sparks from the cutting torch entering the tank and igniting the explosive mixture within.

D.O. Abbitt had been in the area and, upon hearing of the incident at the riverside wharf, he attended. He arrived at 11.50, just before the explosion occurred at 11.52. Three further pumps from Bethnal Green and Bow were order on at 11.54 following this explosion. Their job was to recover the bodies of the firemen killed.

Those firemen were: Temporary Sub Officer Michael Gamble of F23 Millwall, aged 28, married, 10 years in the brigade. Fireman John Victor Appleby of F22 Brunswick Road, aged 23, married, 3 children, almost 5 years service. Fireman Terrance Breen of F22 Brunswick Road, aged 37, married with 3 children, 12 years service. Fireman Paul Carvosso of C25 Cannon Street, aged 23, married, 1 child, 4 years service. Fireman Alfred Charles Smee of F23 Millwall, aged 47, 1 son, 24 years service.

SOUTHWARK - 1930s

"POWERFUL JETS OF WATER discharged from many hoses were played on a big fire in an oils and colours warehouse at Southwark, London, from extended ladders and other vantage points. Often there is no building opposite from which water can be directed into a blaze, and then the use of extended ladders is all-important." - Mike's Engineering Wonders

SYDNEY STREET - 1911

RIOTS - 2011

Photo: BBC

UPDATED OCTOBER 2011

In early August 2011, the London Fire Brigade contended with rioting that started in Tottenham and spread across the city.

"Firefighters are either fighting or trying to get to a number of fires across the capital," the fire brigade said Aug. 8. "Fires involve commercial and residential buildings, cars and rubbish bins."

Violence was reported in Hackney, Lewisham, Peckham, Croydon, Brixton, Enfield Town, Walthamstow, Newham and Southwark in the aftermath of a police shooting.

Fire crews "were threatened as they tried to put out fires," the Press Association reported.

Rioters damaged fire engines from Brixton, West Norwood and Edmonton, according to the fire brigade.

Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to restore order and recalled Parliament in response to "sickening scenes" in London and other cities, the BBC said.

However, former London Mayor Ken Livingstone attributed the violence to government economic policy and spending reductions:

"As when Margaret Thatcher imposed such policies during her recessions this creates the threat of people losing control, acting in completely unacceptable ways that threaten everyone, and culminating in events of the type we saw in Tottenham."

Livingstone was quoted by the Socialist newspaper, The Morning Star.

MAJOR FIRES IN LONDON
Night of Aug. 8-9

Barking and Dagenham
1 X Six Pump Fire @ 23:12

Croydon
1 X Four Pump Fire @ 20:35
1 X Ten Pump Fire @ 20:54 (Reeves Corner)
[SITUATION REPORT @ 0700: "Shop of 2 floors 30 metres by 30 metres, 100 percent alight. All persons not yet accounted for. Crews unable to make search due to intensity of fire. Breathing apparatus, 3 jets in use"]
1 X Four Pump Fire @ 23:44
1 X Six Pump Fire @ 04:13

Ealing
1 X Six Pump Fire @ 23:18

Enfield
1 X Eleven Pump Fire @ 23:49
[SITUATION REPORT @ 0700: "Single storey warehouse, 150 metres by 75 metres, 100 percent alight. 2 jets, 5 ground monitors, 2 aerial monitors in use, steady progress being made. "]

Greenwich
1 X Four Pump Fire @ 22:13
1 X Four Pump Fire @ 00:04

Merton
1 X Four Pump Fire @ 22:12

Southwark
1 X Four Pump Fire @ 03:07

Wandsworth
1 X Eight Pump Fire @ 00:07

INJURED BLITZ FIREMEN

Photo from archives of Daily Mirror showing London firefighters being treated at Westminster Hospital during the Blitz. The photo is dated March 1, 1941. Members of the fire service suffered eye injuries caused by embers and debris.

KEW GARDENS - 1913

In 1913, the Tea House at Kew Gardens in London was set alight by suffragettes Olive Wharry and Lilian Lenton. The suffragettes were responsible for a series of blazes across London meant to protest government policy.

GARDINER'S CORNER - 1972

Clothing store Gardiner gave its name to the junction Gardiner's Corner, which brought together the main thoroughfares of East London. In 1972, fire gutted the century-old building and caused the clock tower to collapse. The business had closed the year before the fire.

BATTLE OF STEPNEY - 1911

The "Battle of Stepney" raged on Sidney Street, East London, on Jan. 2, 1911, with bullets flying and flames. 

A gunfight and fire led to the death of two "anarchists" suspected in the Houndsditch Murders of three police officers.

The siege also claimed the life of a London fireman - Superintendent Charles Pearson - who sustained injuries when a wall collapsed. He died several months later.

The incident sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill, pictured above.

"EAST END"

On Aug. 17, 2010, the fire brigade extricated a burglary suspect who was too wide to fit through a window in East London, according to the Evening Standard.

WANDSWORTH - 2010

Photo: BBC

On Aug. 1, 2010, London firefighters rescued two people from a six-pump fire at Sudbury House on Wandsworth High Street.

QUEEN VICTORIA STREET - 1891

Major fire on Queen Victoria Street in 1891.

THE CITY - 1940

Photo: City of London
Firefighters and Auxiliary Fire Service trailer pump at "emergency dam" at Aldermanbury after a German air raid on the City of London on Dec. 29, 1940. The trailer pump is numbered for Auxiliary Fire Service sub-station 55X.

CLAPHAM - 2010

On July 5, 2010, London firefighters rescued several people - including these women standing on the window ledge - from a fire in a commercial building in Clapham. Most of those rescued suffered from smoke inhalation.

EUSTON - 1973

Photo: BBC On Sept. 10, 1973, the Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the Euston railway station in central London. About an hour earlier, a bomb exploded at the King's Cross station. Thirteen people were injured between the two blasts.

CENTRAL LINE - 2007

Photo: Daily Telegraph

On July 5, 2007, hundreds of London Underground commuters were trapped on the Central Line for two hours after a train struck "an obstacle" between Mile End and Bethnal Green, according to The Daily Telegraph. "Emergency services treated 20 people for light injuries, including five who were brought to hospital mainly as a result of suffering breathing problems because of panic attacks," the Telegraph reported.

CIGARETTE CARDS

In the years leading up to World War Two, collecting "cigarette cards" was a popular hobby, and in 1938 tobacco companies issued a series depicting air raid precautions, according to the Midnight Watch web site.

CLERKENWELL - 1867

Photo: Metropolitan Police

"The Fenians were 19th Century Irish Nationalists organised in 1858 as the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Ireland, and in 1867 as the Clan na Gael in the US. The name derives from old Irish 'Fianna', legendary Irish warriors whose name became an Irish term for soldiers. Their activities included the Clerkenwell Bombing in 1867, in which 12 people were killed and 126 injured as the Fenians attempted to rescue two of their members." - Metropolitan Police web site

BATTERSEA - 2009

Photo: Sky News web site
On Dec. 16, 2009, a double-decker bus accident in Battersea injured about two dozen people. Crews from the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service provided care. Medics are dressed in yellow and green uniforms.

LONDON SALVAGE CORPS

Photo: Fire Engine Photos
London Salvage Corps DCU (damage control unit) in Tottenham in late 1970s. The vehicle carried tarpaulins and other salvage equipment. The salvage corps, operated by the insurance industry, disbanded in the 1980s. It began operations in 1866.

SHOREDITCH - 2010

Photos: BBC web site, submitted by viewers

Fire in Shoreditch, central London

On March 11, 2010, flames swept a block of buildings on Tabernacle Street in Shoreditch, and at the height of the incident 20 engines and about 100 firefighters were at the scene.

The initial alarm was received at about 4:30 a.m. and smoke was visible across central London. The fire was under control about seven hours later.

"This was a complicated fire spreading rapidly through different premises and onto a bituemin covered roof, creating huge plumes of smoke across the city and presenting very difficult firefighting conditions for the crews attending," London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said.

"This incident yet again highlights the need for our fire safety work to prevent the fire risk and disruption these incidents have on our capital,” Dobson said.

The building housed a popular club, bar and restaurant - Sosho and the East Room.

Owner Jonathan Downey told The Evening Standard: "It's like one of those smart bombs has just landed on my organisation. Floors have collapsed, some walls are in danger of collapsing. Our head office was there."

INITIAL REPORT FROM THE SCENE
04:32
F24 SHOREDITCH
20 PUMP FIRE PERSONS REPORTED, AERIALS 4
37219101
TABERNACLE STREET, EC2.
Range of buildings of 3,4,and 5 floors, 40 metres x 50 metres, 20 percent of 2nd floor, 20 percent of 3rd floor, 50 percent of roof alight, 3 jets, 1 ground monitor, 2 aerials, all breathing apparatus crews withdrawn, all persons not yet accounted for, tactical mode oscar.

WAREHOUSE - 1960s OR 1970s

Photo: Collection of Kevin McDermott, retired London firefighter
Firefighters in cork helmets at warehouse blaze in London, circa 1960s or 1970s.

WHITEFRIARS - 1959

From left to right - Station Officer Hanslip with Firemen McDermott, Elliot and Sloman outside Whitefriars Fire Station in London, 1959

Photos: Collection of Kevin McDermott, retired London firefighter
Left to right - Firemen Smith, Collins and McDermott of the Red Watch at Whitefriars Fire Station, London, 1959.

LAMBETH - 1850

FRESNO STAR - 1946

On March 25, 1945, fire broke out in the engine room of the cargo ship Fresno Star at London's Royal Victoria Dock. "Firefighters wearing respirators fought their way through blazing oil to rescue seamen trapped below deck," according to a dispatch from the Australian Associated Press. The 8,000-ton vessel was operated by the Blue Star Line.

MANOR FIELDS - 1985

Photo: BBC

On Jan. 10, 1985, a natural gas explosion leveled Newnham House, a three-story block of flats at the Manor Fields Estate in Putney Hill. Eight people died and dozens others were injured.

The London Fire Brigade freed a woman from the debris, the Associated Press reported. She had been trapped for several hours when firefighters heard her calls for help.

Residents called the gas company to report an odor before duisaster struck, but utility crews "arrived two minutes after the blast," according to the BBC.

During the 36-hour search, a fire brigade safety officer alerted crews to a teetering chimney that collapsed seconds later in a hail of brick and mortar, the AP reported.

"It was a split second business," said Brian Clarke, a fire brigade spokesman, quoted by the AP. "We could have had a new disaster."

Government inspectors "concluded that the explosion was caused by gas leaking into the building from a crack in a cast-iron gas main," the BBC reported.

The BBC also said police chased looters from the site and "found a collection of plastic bags stuffed with £20 notes totalling thousands of pounds, among the debris."

EAST ENDERS

German bombers routinely hit London's industrial East End during the Blitz of 1940-1941 - destroying docks, warehouses and factories and demoralizing the working class class.

In the book "A Cockney Kid In Green Wellies," author Jim Ruston recalled the scene:

"Fire hoses wriggled along the ground like snakes, as they were pulled from building to building. Fractured water mains spurted fountains of water high in the air. Emergency supplies had to be pumped from the Regent's canal.

"Firemen, ambulance crews, civil defence members, and the heavy rescue teams were going about their work. The smoke stung your eyes, the dust got in your mouth and the acrid smell of gas lingered in your nostrils.

"As if a vision, dad appeared. He seemed to come from nowhere out of the smoke and dust. ... His face was black, his blue overalls covered in grime, under his arm he held a helmet with the letter R for rescue painted on the front. For that is what he did throughout the Blitz. Defiant, he would never go down a shelter.

"Like most East-Enders, dad thought London exclusively his."

'THE RESCUE'

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Rescue (1855) is a painting by John Everett Millais depicting a London fireman rescuing three children from a house fire, with their mother receiving them back into her arms.

Millais witnessed the death of a fireman in the course of a rescue, and decided to depict the subject. The fire brigade had only recently been transformed from private businesses dedicated to the protection of property to a public institution charged to protect life first.

Millais sought to create the correct effects of light and smoke by using a sheet of coloured glass and by burning planks of wood. This emphasis on fleeting effects of colour and light was a new departure in his art.

The painting is also notable for its startling transitions of colour, particularly the dramatic effect by which the sleeve of the mother's nightgown changes from slatey blue to pale pink. This led to much critical comment at the time.

Robyn Cooper argues that some criticism of the painting arose from the fact that it depicted a virile working class man rescuing middle class children, while their father is nowhere to be seen. The mother's opened arms seem to greet this strong new man as much as her children.

STRATFORD TUBE - 1953

Image: Accident Report

Photo: Newham Recorder

On April 8, 1953, rescuers freed commuters trapped in a London Underground tunnel after two trains collided during the evening rush hour. Nine people died and many others were injured.

Nurses from Queen Mary's Hospital and Whipps Cross Hospital responded, caring for the injured and assisting surgeons as the London Fire Brigade and others burrowed through the Central Line wreckage between Statford and Leyton.  

"It's just a shamble down there," said a London fireman quoted by the press. "We have to cut our way through every inch."

A news report from the scene said: "Heavy jacking equipment was taken into the tunnel to raise shattered coaches. A ceaseless procession of nurses carried surgical instruments, bandages, splints and other medical supplies."

St. John Ambulance also responded.

Investigators determined a signal failure led to the tube mishap.

RUDI M - 1980

Photo: London Fire Brigade

(Editor's Note: Thank you to Station Manager Robin Whittington of London's Poplar Fire Station for providing this post.)

By Steve Dudeney

The Motor Vessel Rudi M was an 800-ton Panamanian registered liquid gastanker, and in the winter of 1979/80 it came into Regents Canal Dock off of the River Thames in East London to undergo a re-fit.

On Jan. 17, 1980, fire crews from the Green Watch at Poplar Fire Station, whose ground covered the Regents Canal Dock, had been called to a fire on the ship caused by workers using hot cutting equipment. The fire was quickly tacked by the crews and work on the boat continued throughout January until the fateful morning of the 25th.

The Red watch at F22 Poplar reported for Duty at 1800 on Thursday, Jan. 24. Stn O Tony Westbrook was in charge with Sub O DennisHurley, Lfm John Bailey and Leading Fireman Steve Maynard as the officers that night.

The rest of the watch on duty that night were Fm Dave Andrew, Fm Mick Brophy, Fm John Burgess Fm Carl Chughtai, Fm Steve Debenham, Fm Bill Downey, Fm Keith Herbert, Fm Barry Holmes, Fm Brian Jeffries, Fm Keith Leggett, Fm Keith Stimpson and Fm Paul Wickenden.

Typically for Poplar at that time they had a very busy night with a number of calls in and around Poplar and the pump, with Stn O Westbrook in charge, had spent a large part of the night fighting a 25-pump fire at Chelsea Flour Mills in West London.

Friday dawned a clear day, at around 8.30am a number of the oncoming Green Watch had started to appear, having had a long night a few of the Watch had decided to take an exchange duty so a few members of the Green Watch were now riding for Red Watch personnel.

At 08:55 that morning a call was received at Stratford Fire Control from workers on the ship. There was a fire in the hold; once again contractors had accidentally set alight to insulating material in the tank.

The bells went down at Poplar ordering the pump escape and pump along with the pump from F25 Shadwell to the fire. Upon the arrival of the crews, a fire was seen to be in progress in the hold of the ship and a 4-man BA crew consisting of Lfm Steve Maynard and Fm Steve Debenham from the Red Watch with Sub O George Thomas & Fm Gary Jones from the Green Watch were committed to the hold in BA with a firefighting jet.

The hold was very hot and smoky with visibility at zero. Steve Debenham withdrew to the jetty to get a pair of gloves but was ordered by Stn O Westbrook to go back down and get the crew to withdraw. Steve returned to the hold and passed on Stn O Westbrook's' order, Sub O Thomas and Fm Jones left first followed by Steve Debenham and Steve Maynard.

Upon reaching the top of the ladder Steve Debenham noticed Steve Maynard was not behind him.

He went back down the ladder and all of a sudden the hold of the ship erupted into flame and smoke. Steve Debenham was badly burned and Steve Maynard did not manage to escape, he tragically lost his life.

[Terry Dietman, a worker at the dock, told the East London Advertiser newspaper that day: “There was a sudden gush of smoke from the hold. It was awful. Everyone was so helpless.”]

The LFB lost a good officer and his family and colleagues mourned his untimely death at the age of 26.

Thirty years on from that day, Limehouse Basin is now almost unrecognisable. Members of Steve's family, retired members who attended the fire, local senior officers and principal LFB officers lined up at the side of the dock as a new plaque to commemorate the anniversary of Steve's death was unveiled by London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson.

---

'NICE AND DECENT BLOKE'

Recalling the fire 30 years later, Steve Debenham said in an interview with The Docklands 24 web site:

"It's so important to remember people like Stephen and to let his family know we've never forgotten about him

"He was the one who told me to go up the ladder on that morning and then there was the explosion. That shows the courage of the man. He was a thoroughly nice and decent bloke and had a great sense of humour.

"It was devastating for everyone and I still think about it all the time - it's very distressing to lose a friend and colleague."

GOSWELL ROAD - 1969

Photo: Collection of Kevin McDermott, retired London firefighter

The collapse of an old air raid shelter at Goswell Road, Islington, in 1969, killed London firefighter Michael Lee of the Shoreditch Fire Station and seriously injured another firefighter.

CONSULATE FIRE - 1980

Photo: Ottawa Citizen
On March 24, 1980, flames destroyed the Italian Consulate in London's fashionable Knightsbridge district. More than 50 firefighters answered the alarm.

EMBASSY SIEGE - 1980

Photos: BBC

On May 5, 1980, a six-day siege at the Iranian embassy ended after a dramatic raid by Special Air Service commandos that freed 19 hostages.

Members of the London Fire Brigade entered the building to extinguish flames ignited by military explosives while police evacuated the hostages.

Five gunmen and one hostage died in the shootout.

The attackers belonged to a group opposed to Ayatollah Khomeini, the religious leader who came to power in Iran in 1979, according to the BBC.