The orange, elliptical plaque
reads:
In memory of three
members of
the London Fire Brigade
who lost their lives near this
site,
formerly The Old Warehouse, part of
Broad Street Station Goods
Depot
Fm Edward James
Harwood
Fm Thomas Albert Joy
Fm Leslie William Skitt
together with twenty
other members of the Brigade,
including Deputy Chief Officer Charles
McDuell,
who were injured by collapsing walls on the
Eldon Street side
of the building
while fighting a fire on the 21st December
1951.
The LASRA website contains an article about the fire:
"LASRA historian Charles Keevil
looks back at another major incident in his casebook. This article looks at the
great Eldon Street fire of 1951.
Some time ago I was walking around
the area near to the old London borough of Finsbury and the City of London when
I thought some of the buildings seemed vaguely familiar. Then I saw the street
nameplate: Eldon Street. This caused my memory to flash back over 50 years.
Whilst on one side it was very much the same, the other was entirely different.
Back in December 1951, Eldon Street contained two wrecked London Fire Brigade
(LFB) turntable ladders, several broken 50 foot wheeled escapes and with debris
in the road covering hoses and other fire-fighting equipment. Unfortunately in
those days, I did not have a camera so I missed some prize photographic
opportunities. However, the fire fighting appliances pictured within this
article are the same as those utilised at this incident.
The building involved was the
British Railway’s Eldon Street warehouse, also known as the old warehouse of
Broad Street Goods Station. It was a five storey open-plan building with brick
load-bearing walls with basement and sub-basement, bounded by Finsbury Avenue
and Eldon Street. In size it was 112 by 256 feet and a capacity of some
2,500,000 square feet. There were no internal walls, and the upper floors were
carried on steel joists. The first floor was brick arches supporting steel
girders on which rested a wooden floor. The roof was on timber trusses with
close boarded timbers covered with waterproof felt. Items stored in the
warehouse included carpets, hosiery, rubber flooring, cotton wool, textiles,
paper, glass and stationary. On the second floor an area had been partitioned
and used to hold records on timber racks. There was also a canteen and kitchen.
The ground floor was used as a loading and un-loading area while the basement
was sub-divided and stocked with wool. This was undamaged by the fire. To add to
the LFB’s problems, Eldon Street was 40 feet wide and Finsbury Avenue 22 feet
wide.
It would appear that a ‘late call’
was made for this fire! The last known person left the building between 1700 and
1730 when there was no indication of the inferno which was to follow. Two
cleaners who were working on the second floor left about two hours
later.
Timetable of events:
At 1915 and
1920 hours the ‘dolls eyes’ actuated on the private telephone exchange. The
switchboard operator took no action. Two railwaymen in the canteen heard a thud
that might have been caused by falling furniture at 1925, but also decided to
take no action. At 1933 an off-duty City of London police officer, PC Armfield
from Bishopsgate Police Station and two colleagues was walking in Finsbury
Square when he saw smoke issuing from a second floor window he ran to the
gatekeeper’s cubical in Eldon Street and was told by the occupant: “We know all
about it” or words to that effect. At 1934 the PC saw smoke still coming from
the window and returned to the gatekeeper. Only to be told: “Everything is all
right - my people have been told.” The gatekeeper denies all knowledge of these
events! The switchboard operator said he received an internal call at 1937
hours, asking for the LFB to be called. This time seems to be incorrect however,
as a worker who ‘clocked off’ at 1941 saw the glow of a fire on the second
floor. He reported this to a member of the railway fire brigade. They then both
went to investigate and discovered a well established fire. The railway fireman
with others in the brigade tried to get jet hose to work but the water supply
had been turned off. The first person then went to the gatekeeper and told him
to call the LFB; this call was received at 1949. Someone also went to a public
telephone booth which was in use, but the occupier called the Brigade at 1943
hours.
The initial attendance was pump
escape and pump from B32 Bishopsgate fire station, and pump 33 and the turntable
ladder from B35Cannon Street fire station. In addition, a pump from B27 station
with a station officer was mobilised. Bishopsgate’s appliances were in
Attendance at 1945. The leading fireman in charge of Bishopsgate appliances made
pumps four at 1948 hours. The sub-officer from the Redcross Street pump made a
survey and made pumps eight at 1950 hours. At this stage Assistant Divisional
Officer Varndell arrived and made pumps 20 and turntable ladders at 1953.At 1954
hours, the London Ambulance Service received a call from the LFB to a 25 pump
fire, the ambulance to stand by in Broad Street by Eldon Street. A vehicle from
Shoreditch Ambulance Station responded and the duty station officer, Station
Officer Lenm also attended. At 2001, the LFB chief officer arrived, preceded
some three minutes earlier by the deputy chief officer. Meanwhile three jets
from the turntable ladders and 15 other jets had beengot to work from the tops
of escapes or from the ground.
At 2034 hours additional ambulances
were dispatched from LAS Headquarters (HQ) and Shoreditch. At 2046 pump were 40.
The first wall collapse occurred at 2048. The construction of the building had
large unprotected steel joints across the building and as they expanded, wall
bulging and collapses occurred. The major collapse in Eldon Street happened at
2049 as an evacuation from the street was in progress. The deputy chief officer
was pinned down by masonry and suffered injuries to his right leg - later to be
amputated in hospital. Two firemen were killed with a third succumbing to his
injuries in hospital. Seven other firemen were injured and detained in hospital,
with a further three being treated in hospital but released after treatment
2059.
The duty ambulance station officer
called for an additional three ambulances. This resulted in both Poplar
Ambulance Station vehicles being deployed, another from LAS HQ, and an ambulance
bus from the Eastern Ambulance Station. At the same time, St. Bartholomew’s ,
The London and St. Leonard’s Hospital’s were put on stand by. The ambulance
deputy officer in charge and chief superintendent were informed and subsequently
attended. To provide ambulance cover, a vehicle from the Eastern Ambulance
Station stood by at Shoreditch and one from the South eastern Ambulance Station
stood by at LAS HQ. The day crews from Shoreditch and HQ ambulances were
relieved by the night crews when they came on duty. In total 30 firemen were
taken to hospital, with others being treated at the scene for minor injuries.
The attendance by the LFB included
62 pump escapes and pumps, including an Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) pump from
Euston, eight turntable ladders, both emergency tenders and a hose layer. Soon
after midnight the initial crews were relieved by 20 reliefs, including five
pumps each from Kent, Essex and Surrey Fire Brigades. During the night and
following days 37 relief crews attended with the last crew being withdrawn on
December 27th. - six days after the initial call. As far as I can ascertain,
this was the largest attendance at any peace-time fire in the county of London
before the stop was sent. I do not have the attendance of the Smithfield Meat
Market fire when more appliances were involved, but spread over a much longer
time.
I understand the maximum attendance
was 40 pumps plus specialists. It is interesting to note that ambulances were
conveying three stretcher patients at a time. One on each bed and one on a
Furley stretcher in the gangway of the rear of the vehicle. At this period of
time the LAS did not have radio’s in their vehicles, therefore the duty station
officer had to find a telephone, either in a public telephone booth or one in
private property - as the LFB did not have spare radio capacity, and some years
were to elapse before ambulance vehicles were fitted with radio’s. It is also
interesting that at Smithfield Meat market where the fire started in the
basement, lined with cork insulation, that radiated heat was felt in the
basements of buildings more than 60 feet away, whilst at Eldon Street, goods in
the basement were left undamaged. The turntable ladders that sustained damage
came from Kingsland and Cannon Street Fire Stations.
The following LFB appliances were
on the run that night:
ƒ 58 pump escapes.
ƒ 48 pumps.
ƒ
Two emergency tenders.
ƒ Two hose layers.
ƒ One breakdown
crane.
ƒ One canteen van.
ƒ Appliances at the fire, some from
the Middlesex Fire Service.
ƒ 62 pump escapes and pumps, plus one AFS
pump.
ƒ Eight turntable ladders. Pictured bottom of previous
page
ƒ Two emergency tenders.
ƒ One hose layer.
ƒ 20
reliefs went on stand by at midnight.
ƒ Station stand bys included 18
appliances from Middlesex, West ham, Essex, Croydon, Kent and Surrey. Doubtless,
some of these would have gone on to the fire as
reliefs."