VERNON MILLS - 1902

On Nov. 5, 1902, fire broke out in a cotton spinning machine on the third floor of the Vernon Cotton Mills No. 1 mill in Stockport. The blaze killed nine men. Smoke trapped workers on the upper stories and firefighters performed rope rescues, the St. James's Gazette reported. Ladders were too short to reach the roof. 

PIER FIRE - 2008

On July 28, 2008, flames engulfed the century-old Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare and Avon Fire and Rescue Service deployed 13 engines, special units and 60 firefighters to fight the blaze.

ROYAL MAIL FIRE - 1954

Photo: British Pathe
On Oct. 5, 1954, fire swept the top floor of the Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Sorting Office in London. More than 20 minutes had elapsed between the discovery of the fire and alerting the fire brigade. The Clerkenwell fire station was located nearby. The Postmaster General was questioned  in Parliament and it was determined the post office firefighting squad attempted to extinguish the blaze before calling for assistance.

STAPLES CORNER - 2018

Photos: London Fire Brigade
On Jan. 8, 2018,  15 engines responded to a fire at a paint factory on Waterloo Road, Staples Corner, London.

LONDON ZOO - 2017

"Misha"

Photos: Shy News, London Zoo
On Dec. 23, 2017, fire broke out at the London Zoo, claiming the life of an arrdvark named "Misha." Ten engines responded. Station Manager David George said: "The fire mainly involved the café and shop but part of a nearby animal petting area was also affected. When they arrived our crews were faced with a very well developed fire.'

WESTMINSTER - 1834

On Oct. 16, 1834, fire ripped through the Palace of Westminster, home of British Parliament.

The first hint of disaster was a burning odor reported at 4 p.m. Flames were visible by 6 p.m. and flashed over 30 minutes later, according to Wikipedia.

Two parish pumps were the first on the scene at about 6:45 p.m.

At 7 p.m., Superintendent James Braidwood of the London Fire Engine Establishment  responded with 12 engines and 64 firefighters.

Eyewitness William Baddeley described the scene in Mechanics Magazine,  Feb. 14, 1835 edition:

I was called to the scene of action about seven o’clock, from observing a deep crimson hue in the sky, which pretty well indicated both the situation and magnitude of the conflagration, although there was a strong twilight at the time, and the moon was shining with great brilliancy.

 On arriving in Old Palace-yard, about half-past seven, I found the House of Lords, and suite of rooms facing the Yard, enveloped in one vivid mass of flame; the House of Commons soon after ignited; and the fire, fanned by a strong south-west wind, gradually extended to the Commons’ committee-room and waiting-room, &c.

Several engines had arrived, and were stationed by their foremen in Old Palace yard, as was supposed, under the idea “that they could never be wrong when they laid their engines abroadside the burning buildings.”

The water, though at first rather scant, was afterwards tolerably plentiful; the engines were well manned, and worked with great spirit, but their powers were for some time sadly misapplied.

Several of the firemen mounted the portico in front of the building, pouring their jets of water upon parts that were in a state of most intense combustion, while it was evident enough to all but themselves,that they were exposing themselves to great danger without a possibility of being useful.

Several engines belonging to the London Fire Establishment were in full work by half-past seven, when that from Watling-street station arrived, with Mr. Braidwood, the superintendent, who immediately commenced a survey of the fire, for the purpose of placing the men and engines under his command in the most advantageuos positions.

Mr. Braidwood was not long in forming his “line of battle,” and all the force of the combined Establishment present, became actively engaged with their elemental foe.


Soon after eight o'clock, the flames were advancing towards the square turret at the corner of St. Margaret-street, at the uppermost window of which several persons appeared, and in the most earnest manner implored assistance; two or three ladders were at hand, but they all proved too short to reach the window; a call was immediately raised for the brigade ladders, and it was most promptly answered.

Several lengths of scaling ladders were instantly brought to the spot, and the two first ladders were scarcely put together when Mr. Braidwood came up.

Length after length was added, until six had formed a ladder of the requisite height. The joining and raising of six ladders is a work of some minutes; while it was steadily proceeding, the most intense anxiety was depicted on the countenances of all the spectators, and when at length the ladder reached the window where the unfortunate persons were collected, a simultaneous shout of applause burst from the assembled throng.

The persons thus rescued proved to be Lord F. Fitzclarence and some soldiers; his lordship was the last to descend.

The promptitude with which the ladders were brought up, and the steady masterly style in which they were elevated, reflect much credit on Messrs. Adams, Carter, Elderton, Moore, and George and Henry Rose, who, under the direction and with the assistance of Mr. Braidwood, effected this movement.

These ladders were very extensively employed at this fire.

Long before eight o'clock great apprehensions were felt for the safety of Westminster-hall, and it at length became evident that the fire had extended so much in that direction as to place it in the utmost jeopardy.

To effect the preservation of this venerable building appeared to be a strong and universal feeling, and the most extraordinary efforts were made on its behalf.

Mr. George Colf (late foreman of the Alliance) of the Farringdon-street station, ran his engine into the body of the Hall, and was quickly followed by Mr. E. Bourne, of the Waterloo-road station; two other engines, placed in New Palace-yard, supplied the former with water.

The firemen ascended by means of a ladder to a lead flat outside the great window of the Hall, and kept up a continued deluge upon the flames.

FIREFIGHTING IN 1666

Fighting a losing battle

Map of fire

Images: Country Life, Wikipedia

When flames devoured most of London in September 1666, the task of firefighting was left to local militias and able-bodied citizens.

The tower of parish churches were required by law to maintain a supply of firefighting gear, including long ladders, leather buckets, axes and fire hooks.

Rudimentary pumps and building demolition were also employed to halt flames.

It was a thin line of defense though and could do little to save London from the Great Fire of 1666.

THAMES HAVEN - 1940

On Aug. 24, 1940, the Luftwaffe bombed the Thames Haven Oil Wharf on the Thames Estuary at Thurrock, Essex. The blaze was one of the first tests for the wartime Auxiliary Fire Service. Firefighters waded through pools of crude to apply foam.

HARTLEPOOL - 1954

Photo: Hartlepool Borough Council
The Match Factory at Hartlepool in County Durham took fire Aug. 30, 1954. "It showed as a column of black smoke gushing from the north corner of the roof, took hold and continued late into the night," website Hartlepool History Then and Now said.

CLARENCE HOTEL - 2016

On Oct. 28, 2016, fire destroyed the timber-framed Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter - said to be England’s oldest hotel.

Flames started in an art gallery and spread to the hotel, The Guardian reported.

At the height of the blaze, the Devon and Somerset fire service said:  “Because of the complex structure of the old buildings here we haven’t been able to put firefighters on the inside, so we’re fighting it from the outside.

“We’ve got the aerial ladder platforms so we are pouring water on top of it. We are trying to contain it but there are signs now of damage to the bedroom floors of the hotel.”

The hotel - which escaped damage during World War II - was built in 1769 as the Assembly Rooms and in 1827 renamed the Royal Clarence after a visit by Adelaide, Duchess of Clarence, The Guardian said.

LIVERPOOL LEWIS'S

Photo: Merseyside Police/Liverpool City Police
1941 Blitz

1886 Fire

"David Lewis founded a small shop selling men’s and boy’s clothing in 1856. The sale of women’s clothes began in 1864, and by the 1870s Lewis’s Department Store was in full swing," according to the Historic Liverpool website. "The building burnt down in the infamous fire of 1886, and suffered bombing at the hands of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Nevertheless, it was rebuilt each time."

MAIDA VALE - 1997

Photo: Instagram
London Fire Brigade aerial platform, Maida Vale, 1997

SHEEPCOTE ROAD - 1995

Photo: Instagram
London firefighters at Sheepcote Road, Harrow, August 1995 

GRENFELL TOWER - 2017

Photos: Metro, BBC, London Fire Brigade

By BBC Newsnight
July 7, 2017

A series of failings that hampered the efforts of firefighters to tackle the Grenfell Tower fire and rescue the building's residents have been identified by a BBC investigation.

Crews cited low water pressure, radio problems and equipment that was either lacking or did not arrive before the fire on 14 June got out of control.

Newsnight has learned a high ladder did not arrive for more than 30 minutes.

The London Fire Brigade says it has changed its procedures since the fire.

A high ladder will now automatically be sent to a fire in a tower.

An independent fire expert said having the high ladder, which is also known as an "aerial", available earlier would have given firefighters a better chance of stopping the blaze when it jumped from a fourth floor flat in the tower block and began to race up the side of the building.

More than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines were involved in battling the blaze that engulfed the block in North Kensington, west London.

About 300 people are believed to have lived in Grenfell Tower and most got out on their own.

The fire brigade rescued 65 people but at least 80 people are thought to have died.

An independent fire expert said having the high ladder, which is also known as an "aerial", available earlier would have given firefighters a better chance of stopping the blaze when it jumped from a fourth floor flat in the tower block and began to race up the side of the building.

More than 200 firefighters and 40 fire engines were involved in battling the blaze that engulfed the block in North Kensington, west London.

About 300 people are believed to have lived in Grenfell Tower and most got out on their own.

The fire brigade rescued 65 people but at least 80 people are thought to have died.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: "I have spoken to aerial appliance operators in London... who attended that incident, who think that having that on the first attendance might have made a difference, because it allows you to operate a very powerful water tower from outside the building onto the building."

A London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesman confirmed the so-called "pre-determined attendance" for a tower fire - the list of appliances which are automatically dispatched - has been changed from four engines to five engines plus an aerial.

The spokesman said: "An 'interim' change to pre-determined attendance for high rise buildings was introduced in direct response to the government's action to address concerns of cladding on buildings.

"The Brigade's pre-determined attendance to high rise buildings had already been increased in June 2015 from three fire engines to four as part of our ongoing review of high rise firefighting.

"It is important to understand that fires in high rise buildings are nearly always dealt with internally, not usually needing an aerial appliance.

"The fundamental issue of high rise safety remains that buildings are maintained to stop fires spreading."

The spokesman added: "The Brigade has a fleet of specialist aerial firefighting appliances and these attend a variety of incidents across the capital."

Newsnight's investigation also heard that firefighters had struggled with water pressure problems and the fire service had to call Thames Water to ask the company to increase pressure in the area.

One firefighter said: "The fire floors we went in were helmet-meltingly hot… when we were clearing flats, it was a case of a quick look and closing doors because the water pressure wasn't up to firefighting."

A Thames Water spokesman said:

 "We've been supporting the emergency services' response in every way possible… any suggestion there was low pressure or that Thames Water did not supply enough water to fire services during this appalling tragedy is categorically false."

Firefighters also described problems with radio reception inside the building and said they lacked enough of the "extended duration" breathing apparatus they needed, especially when reaching the higher floors of the building.

All fire engines have basic breathing apparatus that provides firefighters with oxygen for around 30 minutes.

The extended duration apparatus enables them to breathe for a theoretical 45 minutes - but working in dense smoke and intense heat 20 storeys up uses up the compressed air in the equipment more quickly.

The LFB said all of its rescue units carry extended duration apparatus and "all of the fire brigade's rescue units attended the incident".

The LFB said the police investigation into the fire would examine the brigade's response "including all of the issues Newsnight has raised".

Questions have also been raised about why a 42m firefighting platform had to be called in from Surrey to fight the fire at Grenfell - itself 67m high - because the LFB does not have one of its own.

The LFB spokesman said it had never responded to a fire on the scale of Grenfell Tower before.

He said: "The commissioner has made clear her intention to fully review the brigade's resources and seek funding for any additional requirements."

RIPLEY - 1969

On Feb. 10, 1969, a fire and explosion at a hardware rocked the village of Ripley in Surrey. The Guilford Times and Advertiser said: "The fire began while a tanker was pumping paraffin into the store; a store which sold everything from bicycles, television sets and crockery to furniture, paraffin, gas and petrol." Firefighters responded from Guildford, Woking, Esher and Camberley.

SOUTHEND AIRPORT - 1960

Photo: londonreconnections.com

On Oct. 9, 1960, a Handley Page Hermes aircraft operated by UK-charter carrier Falcon Airways overshot the runway while landing at London's Southend Airport and tilted to a stop along a railway line on its front end, Wikipedia said. Five people were injured. The government shut down the airline due to safety concerns in 1961.

EALING - 1973

Photo: Cultural Community Solutions
On Dec. 19, 1973, an express train traveling at 70 mph derailed at Ealing in West London, killing 10 people and injuring almost 100 more. Investigators determined the accident was caused by an open door on the locomotive's battery box.  

SUTTON COLDFIELD - 1955

Photo: Birmingham Mail

On Jan. 23, 1955, an express train plowed into the platform at Sutton Coldfield station in Birmingham, killing 17 people and injuring 25 others.

"The first carriage was crushed between the engine and the second carriage," The Birmingham Mail recalled on the 60th anniversary. "Another was knocked into the air, causing it to drag along the station roof."

The train from York to Bristol was traveling at twice the speed limit, the BBC said.

It had been diverted from its normal route.

QUEEN VICTORIA ST. - 1902

On June 9, 1902, fire claimed nine lives on Queen Victoria Street in the City of London. Escape ladders were too short to rescue people from the top floors, prompting pubic outrage.

The Spectator reported:

A great and fatal fire took place at a warehouse in Queen Victoria Street in broad daylight on Monday evening.

The building, which is close to the Mansion House Station of the District Railway and only three hundred yards from the chief City fire-station, is used as workshops, offices, and stores by the General Electric Lighting Company.

When the alarm was given at five o'clock a number of girls were at work on the fourth floor, which the Watling Street fire-escape proved too short to reach.

Many of the girls leaped into a tarpaulin held out in the street, but when the fire had been got under and the fourth floor entered the bodies of eight girls and one boy were found in the ruins.

The firemen appear to have worked with the utmost gallantry, and in particular two women were rescued by splendid efforts on the part of the men of the Salvage Corps.

But the fact that the longest fire- escape available at the chief City fire-station was unable to reach the fourth floor of a London warehouse has created a very painful impression.

We do not wish to make any criticism in regard to individuals till after the inquest, but it is clear that the life-saving apparatus available at short notice in the City, with its lofty buildings, is at present by no means adequate, and must be made so without delay, —if, indeed, the whole Fire Brigade does not require reorganization.

SOHO STATION - 1940

Photo: London Fire Brigade
On the evening of Oct. 7, 1940, Soho fire station in central London took a direct hit during the Blitz, killing Station Officer William Wilson and Auxiliary Firefighter Frederick Mitchell as well as two passersby. The station's fire apparatus sustained damage.

CROYDON - 2016

On Nov. 9, 2016, a tram derailed near Addiscombe Road in Croydon, killing five people and injuring more than 50 others. The London Fire Brigade sent eight engines and five fire rescue units.  London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said: "Firefighters worked tirelessly this morning to help the injured and rescue those who were trapped.”

REUNION - 1956

Photo: London Fire Brigade
London firefighters rescue Dennis Norman McGowan, 19 months old, on Feb. 25, 1956. The child's mother waits below.

MANCHESTER - 1996

Photos: Wikipedia, Manchester Fire & Rescue

On June, 15, 1996, the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a 3,000-pound bomb on Corporation Street in central Manchester, injuring more than 200 people during the Euro football championships.

Remarkably, there were no deaths.

The bomb was the largest denotation in Great Britain since World War II.

A telephoned warning preceded the blast by about 90 minutes allowing for the evacuation of 75,000 or more people.

SURREY DOCKS - 1940

Photo: PortCitiesLondon, Caters News Agency
Fire at Surrey Commercial Docks, Rotherhithe on  Sept. 7, 1940, the first day of the Blitz. 
Gerry Knight, a station officer, sent a message to the alarm office from the docks, saying: "Send all the bloody pumps you've got … The whole bloody world's on fire!" according to PortCitiesLondon.

TAUNTON - 1978

Photos: BBC

On July 6, 1978, fire burned out a British Rail sleeping car at Fairwater Close, Taunton, killing 13 people and injuring others.

The train was travelling from Penzance to Paddington station in London when laundry stacked against an electric heater ignited, the BBC said.

All 31 of the dead or injured were in the front two carriages.

Car doors were locked, a violation of British Rail rules, preventing a means of escape.

A passenger said: "I remember being woken up and being carried out of the train. The place was full of smoke. All I could see was people smashing the windows and trying to get other people out."

Fireman Derek James said: "It was a really eerie scene. Then we had instructions to go in and remove the people from the carriage. It was horrendous in there."

Ray Stokes, a newspaper reporter, said people living near the tracks used wire cutters to break down a fence to render aid.

SECOND GREAT FIRE - 1940

On the night of Dec. 29-30, 1940, London suffered the "Second Great Fire" - timed by German raiders to coincide with low tide on the River Thames and run the fire brigade's water supply dry. 

Fourteen firefighters died and 250 were injured in the destruction that stretched south from Islington to St Paul's Cathedral, scorching an area greater than that of the Great Fire of London of 1666.

Nazi bombers dropped more than 24,000 high explosives and 100,000 incendiaries, leveling historic buildings and gutting the medieval Great Hall of the City's Guildhall. 

The firestorm destroyed 19 churches, 31 guild halls and ravaged Paternoster Row, center of the London publishing trade where an estimated 5 million books were lost in the flames.

As the flames approached St Paul's Cathedral, a symbol of London's glory, Prime Minister Winston Churchill called of the Fire Brigade and St. Paul's fire watch to save the landmark - and they did.

 The famous photograph "St Paul's Survives" (above) was snapped from the roof of the Daily Mail by Herbert Mason.

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 GARDEN - 1949

On Dec. 21, 1949, fire broke out in stacks of Christmas trees stored in catacombs beneath London's Covent Garden flower market, killing a fireman. Armed with pneumatic drills, the fire brigade bored holes in concrete floors to release smoke. More than 1 million gallons of water were pumped into the catacombs and rose as high as as five feet.

GREEN GODDESS

Illustration: BBC

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.

OAKWOOD HOSPITAL - 1957

Three members of the Kent Fire Brigade died in the aftermath of a fire at a psychiatric hospital in November 1957.

From Kent History Forum

The fire which broke out at Oakwood Mental Hospital on 29th November 1957 will never be forgotten by the Brigade as amongst the six killed at the scene were three Brigade personnel. An emergency call was made by the night Nursing Superintendent immediately he discovered the fire whilst making his rounds.

The call was received at Maidstone Fire Station at 06.40 hours and were on the scene within four minutes. On arrival the Brigade found hospital staff fighting the fire with a jet, direct from a hydrant. Faced with a developing fire situation at first floor level adjacent to the wards containing 350 mentally ill patients, the officer-in-charge of the two appliances and Turntable Ladder despatched in the initial response got to work after "making pumps 6" at 06.48.

Having started in the tailor's shop on the first floor, the fire raged out of control through the workshop wing, the printer's shop, the library, a staff rest room, the TV room and upwards into the roof. The fire was brought under control by six jets and the "Stop" message was sent at 07.30.

Adjacent to the section of the building where the fire had occurred was a brick built ventilation tower 115 ft in height.

Whilst the cleaning up operations were in progress and half the personnel were enjoying a well earned cup of tea, at 10.01 without any warning, the tower collapsed completely falling on the workshop block and causing the destruction of the building around it. Buried beneath the tons of masonry were several members of the Brigade and also some Oakwood staff including the hospitals Chief fireman. Others were trapped on all levels of the building from the basement to the first floor, some being in considerable danger.

The rescue operations commenced without delay and were organised by Brigade Control with firemen and hospital staff and a request was made for the  attendance of Civil Defence Rescue Parties who responded within a very short time from six towns and who were very quickly at work.

Working in extremely dangerous conditions, under large quantities of bricks and rubble and soaking wet, fire weakened timbers, the rescuers struggled through the remains of the workshops wing to rescue those who had been injured.

Recovered form the wreckage were the three bodies of the firemen who had been killed. Retained Station Officer SE Pearce who had been digging through the rubble searching for casualties found a partially buried body. After further frantic digging through the debris he discovered to his distress that he had uncovered the body of his own brother, ADO Leslie Pearce. He collapsed from shock and was taken to hospital by ambulance. Search and Rescue operations continued until the last body, that of a civilian, had been recovered at 14.30 hours on Sunday 1st December 1957.

The firemen killed were: 

ADO LA Pearce - C Division, Retained Fireman AE Farrow - Loose Fire Station and Retained Fireman JA Hawkes -Loose Fire Station.

The firemen injured were:

ADO HR Evans-Brigade Headquarters, Retained Station Officer SE Pearce Maidstone Fire Station -Retained Fireman DS Latham - Loose Fire Station, Retained Fireman GR Burden -Loose Fire Station, Retained Fireman NF Austin - West Malling Fire Station, Retained Fireman C Wallis - Maidstone Fire Station.

Before the funeral service for the three Kent Firemen on December 5th, large crowds gathered in Maidstone to pay their last respects. The procession was led by Senior Officers and over a hundred firemen from all four Divisions of the County and the funeral service attended by nearly 800 people,  was conducted by Canon FLM Bennett at All Saints Church, Maidstone.

A Tribunal appointed by the South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board held a public enquiry into the disaster on the 30th/31st January 1958, finding that a clothes iron, which had been left on overnight in the tailor's shop, had been the cause of the fire. 

Source: Fifty Vigilant Years and CFO's Annual Report 1957/58