Maryhill Road Fire - UK Fire Service Resources

Transcription

Maryhill Road Fire
Written by
Bob James.
Station Officer (Retired)
Glasgow Fire Service / Strathclyde Fire Brigade.
Maryhill Road Fire – Glasgow, 18th November 1972
In 1972, as a 19-year-old Recruit Fireman with only a few months “under my
belt” I was to witness a fire that took the life of a family friend, Alice “Trixi”
Mulgrew and unbelievably the 8th Glasgow Fire Service fireman killed on duty in
the space of only 11 weeks - Sub Officer Adrian McGill.
The “Maryhill Road Fire” was one of those defining moments in a fire brigade’s
history that although never to make national news, was to prove to be an incident
demanding levels of effort and courage beyond what would be considered
“normal day-to-day” requirements of a Glasgow fireman.
For many Glaswegians the events of that crisp winter afternoon in 1972 are as
vivid today as they were thirty-six years ago, they certainly are for me.
The History of the Building
Maryhill Road was and still remains one of the main arterial routes into the City of
Glasgow since the 1700’s. The growth of the area was principally due to industry
and communities springing up along its route, which in turn required increasing
numbers of buildings for housing down its entire length. The inhabitants of
Maryhill were principally working classes; many descended from immigrant Irish
labourers or Highland Scots brought in to work on the fields, in the mills, or in
later years to construct the Forth & Clyde Canal. Generation after generation of
families and owners lived and worked in these buildings, many standing well over
a hundred years and most with the minimum of on-going maintenance.
Scheduled for demolition during Glasgow’s sweeping reconstruction period of the
late 1960’s & early 1970’s, the whole area of St Georges Cross, located at the city
end of Maryhill Road somehow managed to survive the town planners and
bulldozers, even though many of the buildings were below the then accepted
standard of adequate living conditions.
Description of Surrounding Area & Layout of Building
The part of Maryhill Road
where the incident took place
was close to the busy 5-road
junction of St Georges Cross,
one of the city’s main “West
End”
intersections.
This
junction was formed by
Maryhill Road, Gt. Western
Rd, New City Road and St
George’s
Rd
(intersected
itself into 2 parts by St
George’s Cross).
Picture shows St Georges Cross
The range of buildings where the fire occurred was originally constructed in 1842,
forming a “V” shaped section of the St. George’s Cross junction. In 1875,
structural alterations extended the frontages of the shops forming the ground
floor on Maryhill Road out beyond the original building line. Subsequent post-fire
investigations were to reveal that the Victorian construction methods and
Copyright © 2008 UK Fire Service Resources. All Rights Reserved.
Page 2
materials used not only created difficult fire fighting conditions, but the later 1875
alterations also aided the spread of fire with catastrophic consequences.
Standing facing the building - looking across the busy Maryhill Road you would
have seen a typical 19th century row of projecting shops with flat roofs the length
of the block. Sitting behind the shops and above their flat roof was a row of
tenement buildings; these two structural components both formed the one
building as the shops ran under these tenements.
Picture shows St Georges Cross at Maryhill Road
On the Gt. Western Road side - the shop frontages were in line with the rest of
the building, therefore no projecting fronts.
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Picture shows Great Western Road at St Georges Cross
A plan view of the building in question shows the block tapering down to a “V”
shape, with the point of the V forming the junction of two parts of the 5-road
intersection - on one side is Maryhill Road and on the other Gt. Western Road.
Picture shows Maryhill Road & Great Western Road / Section Plan
As the two rows of tenements converged towards St Georges Cross one of the
shops closer to the point of the V – “Bruce’s Furniture Retailers” (see Outline Plan
above) was a large shop having frontages on both Maryhill Road and Gt. Western
Road. To give it its large size the shop was formed by constructing a “through
and through” extension from 35 Maryhill Road, going under the Maryhill Road
tenement, across the back court by means of an extension joining both tenement
buildings, and then under the Gt. Western Road tenement to emerge as the Gt.
Western Road side of Bruce’s Furniture Retailers.
In the backcourt area of the two converging buildings the flat roof of this
“through-and-through” extension formed a first floor, open drying area for the
tenants.
Events Prior to the Fire
During the week leading up to the 18th November tradesmen had been working in
the empty shop at 23/25 Maryhill Road refitting the interior for its new occupiers
– Trident, an electrical goods retailer. At 27 Maryhill Road, next door to this shop,
was the common close entrance to the three floors of tenement homes above the
Trident shop and the other shop to the immediate right hand side of this common
close. A little further down this row of shops were the now empty premises of
Bruce’s Furniture Retailers.
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Building Outline Plan – Maryhill Road perspective
In the early hours of Saturday 18th (03.00) Mrs Antosik, who, with her friend Mrs
Guy, was in the process of decorating her tenement flat mentioned she could
smell smoke. However Mrs Guy was unable to smell the smoke.
At 04.30 Mrs Antosik once again asked her friend if she could smell smoke, and
once again Mrs Guy was unable - shortly afterwards Mrs Antosik retired to bed.
On waking up later that Saturday morning she found her sense of smell had been
so overpowered by the strong fumes off the fresh paint she thought no more
about the earlier smell of smoke.
11.00: A resident in one of the upstairs tenement flats at 27 Maryhill Road
wondered why on running her cold water tap that the water ran warm. Even
though unusual in itself the woman understandably not realising the significance
of this phenomena ran the water until it eventually became cold - no further
thought was given.
11.45 Approximately: The Shields family in their 2nd floor flat at 27 Maryhill
Road notice a smell of smoke and send their 10 year old daughter to investigate.
The little girl goes down into the backcourt to discover smoke issuing from the
ventilators on the rear wall of the Trident shop (23/25 Maryhill Road). She runs
out to the front on Maryhill Road and looks through one of the Trident shop front
windows – at the rear of the interior she sees flames through the smoke filling
the shop. Running upstairs, the little girl tells her parents what she had seen,
where incredibly her parents decide to take no action - at this point the child goes
to the toilet. Sitting in the toilet the girl then notices smoke seeping up through
the floorboards under the bath, runs through to tell her parents about the smoke
that is now coming into the house, where once again, beyond belief, her parents
decide it isn’t anything to worry about!
The Shields family subsequently become trapped.
12.46: First 999 call to the Fire Brigade reporting fire at Maryhill Road, two
further 999 calls closely follow.
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First Attendance
12.47: Turn out instructions from Area Control to the North Fire Station (St
George’s Rd) – 999 call to derelict shop on fire: 20 Maryhill Road.
12.48: Water Tender Ladder (WrL) 75 & Water Tender Escape (WrE) 76 sent,
Station Officer Fletcher in charge.
12.48: 999 call from a man in Gt. Western Road who thought there was a
chimney fire in the area.
12.49: Appliances arrive at Maryhill Road.
Maryhill Road at Bruces Furniture Retailers
StnO Fletcher is immediately aware of a fire in the Trident shop. The interior of
the shop is now totally obscured by smoke - he orders breaking-in tools to force
entry through the shops front door and a hose-reel. At the same time he orders
the flaked-length line of hose to be run out, charged and to stand by in case the
fire develops.
Within seconds the left hand shop window cracks from end to end and Fletcher
realises that the fire inside is rapidly escalating. He instantly orders the left hand
window to be broken in to gain access as quickly as possible, this now being a
situation where even a single seconds delay is going to make a difference. On
breaking the window dense volumes of billowing, light tan coloured smoke fill the
road obscuring the frontage of the building. The jet is immediately got to work,
however the branchmen are hampered by the rapidly worsening conditions
developing within the shop.
StnO Fletcher now orders a second line of hose, but moments before the second
line can be got to work the right hand window of the shop shatters with the heat.
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Vast volumes of smoke are now pouring into Maryhill Road, firemen are
struggling to cope with the smoke and heat issuing out of both the shop windows.
It is at this point where my own personal account of the incident starts as I had
just walked around from St George’s Rd into Maryhill Road from my parent’s
tenement house to witness the unfolding events. I went to position myself at a
good vantage point where I could watch the incident, it having been drummed
into us time and time again that recruits never ever got involved in fires when off
duty.
Managing to get almost directly opposite the appliances on the other side of
Maryhill Road I was caught completely off guard when a massive flashover blew
out of the Trident shop windows, the flame front spreading right across the
pavement, up and around the side of one of the appliances and beyond. Running
for all they were worth out of the shop I saw firemen scattering as they threw
themselves out of the way of smoke and flame now pouring out of the shop.
It must also be remembered, this was all happening on a busy Saturday
afternoon; Maryhill Road was packed with shoppers “enjoying” this unfolding
drama of firemen at work, no crowd control was yet in place because the incident
was only moments into it’s life. In a heartbeat this massive flashover changed the
mood of the spectators from growing excitement to mass panic as they struggled
to escape the clouds of blinding, choking smoke and heat filling the road.
Almost immediately the firemen regrouped, regained control of the two jets and
started fighting their way back into the developing fire inside the shop.
In the words of the Fatal Accident Inquiry – “The effect of the flash-over was
spectacular and immediate, causing the fire to increase in intensity and spread
very rapidly. The branch men tackled visible fire but could hear it crackling
overhead in the false ceiling void.”
12.51: Informative message from Stn. O Fletcher at 33 Maryhill Road – Make
pumps 3.
The crews fighting the fire can now hear a number of residents (including the
Shield’s family mentioned earlier) shouting for help from their windows in Maryhill
Road. There are also residents at the rear windows of their homes in the Maryhill
Road building calling for help.
On Maryhill Road itself there are dozens of men, women and children lost in the
smoke, tripping over lines of hose, falling over kerbs or stumbling into
obstructions, with some injuring themselves in their panic to flee the scene.
Heavy Saturday afternoon traffic is brought to an immediate halt, drivers and
passengers abandoning their buses, cars and trucks in an attempt to escape from
the blinding smoke.
Leading Fireman Clubb, StnO Fletcher’s second-in-command was with the branch
men when the flash-over occurred and afterwards he found that the smoke was
so dense in Maryhill Road he couldn’t find his Stn O. Realising the situation was
developing into a major fire he and another fireman attempted to make their way
up one of the common closes beside the Trident shop (No. 27) in order to
evacuate the residents above. The smoke had become so dense that
unsurprisingly they both are forced back into the road again, returning to the
smouldering appliance to collect Breathing Apparatus (BA) sets for another
attempt.
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Escalating Situation
12.52: Turntable Ladder (TL) from Northwest fire station arrives.
The Northwest TL crew are immediately pressed into service with the remaining
North crew pitching ladders up to the projecting flat roof area in front of the
tenement adjacent to the burning shop. The fire is still rapidly developing, dense
smoke is issuing into Maryhill Road to such an extent that the streetlights come
on.
12.54: Informative message from StnO Fletcher at 20 Maryhill Road – Fire in
derelict shop. Two jets in use.
Fireman Mateer, one of the TL crew, whilst rescuing a shopper lost in the smoke
passes Bruce’s Furniture Retailers, a shop that is on the other side of the common
close from the shop on fire. As he passes this shop it’s front window shatters and
inside is a developing fire, which immediately increases in intensity with the inrush of air.
12.55: Divisional Officer (D.O.) Forbes in attendance.
12.55:WrE from Northwest fire station arrives – SubO McGill in charge.
D.O Forbes orders a third jet to be brought to bear on the fire in the Trident shop
in an attempt to reduce the escalating fire as quickly as possible so that BA crews
can enter the building to rescue the trapped residents above.
Rescues in Progress – Maryhill Road
13.00: Informative message from
DO Forbes at 20 Maryhill Road, Make
pumps 5.
Sub O McGill (Northwest WrE) has
just rescued a number of residents
from 17 Maryhill Road, but realises
he would be unable to enter any
deeper into the building if conditions
continued to escalate at the present
rate without the availability of a BA
set. Returning into Maryhill Road he
finds a partner and they both don
Proto BA sets, telling the driver (who
would also have been the BA Control
Officer (BACO)) they were not going
into oxygen at that time. The later
investigations conclusion to this
action was “This seems to imply that
McGill’s intention was to be in a state
of preparedness to operate in a
irrespirable atmosphere should the
occasion arise”.
McGill and his partner make their way
towards the building, but in the
dense smoke filling Maryhill Road his partner loses sight of him and finds himself
Page 8
at the common close entry at 27 Maryhill Road - not knowing whether the Sub.O.
had entered the building or moved elsewhere down the road. He decides the best
course of action is to enter the building, as this he believed was the Sub.O’s
original intention.
13.02: Cage TL from West fire station arrives.
Rescues in Progress – Maryhill Road
The Cage TL is pressed into action immediately on Maryhill Road to systematically
rescue residents trapped directly above the developing fire in the Trident shop.
In the Trident shop the fire is growing in intensity, now spreading upwards into
one of the 1st floor flats (but as later investigations were to discover the fire
spread up into a large void above the shop first before then spreading into the
flat directly above). There is also a developing fire in Bruce’s Furniture Retailers
rapidly growing due to the fixtures, fittings and discarded furniture still remaining
inside the shop.
All fire service crews are fully committed working in combined firefighting and
rescue operations – either fire-fighting in one of the two shops, pitching ladders
to rescue trapped residents in the building above, or by helping bystanders lost in
the dense smoke from becoming caught up in the fire fighting operations.
D.O. Forbes’ growing realisation is that the situation is getting worse by the
second - even he has to pitch, with the help of civilians, a ladder at the rear of
Maryhill Road to gain access into the house to rescue a trapped family. This
family turns out to be the Shields family mentioned earlier, where once inside
Forbes eventually locates them at a front window of their Maryhill Road flat. He
brings them down a hurriedly pitched extension ladder from their 2nd floor flat
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onto the shops projecting flat roof, and then by another ladder to the ground.
(This rescue being done by firemen lifting a 35ft (10.7 m) extension ladder up
onto the flat roof 15 ft (4.5 m) above the shops and then doing a confined-space
pitch on the flat roof up to the second floor whilst the fire burned in the Trident
shop underneath them.)
13.07:Deputy Firemaster McGill to 20 Maryhill Road.
13.09: Informative message from D.O. Forbes at 20 Maryhill Road – Fire in
derelict shop. Tenement property above heavily smoke-logged, rescues being
done.
The fire developing in Maryhill Road is continuing to deteriorate by the second, in
particular Bruce’s Furniture shop, where conditions are now extremely critical
with a serious fire developing within the store on the Maryhill Road side, and with
heavy smoke issuing from the storefront on Great Western Road.
Early Stages – Great Western Road
Fire is now also evident issuing from
the 1st floor flat window in the
tenement above the Trident shop on
Maryhill Road, - 2 further jets are
carried aloft onto the projecting shops
flat roof and got to work in an
attempt to prevent any further
upward spread.
Page 10
Developing Fire – Maryhill Road
Rescue Conditions
SubO McGill’s BA partner has made his way into the close at no. 27, where he
eventually emerges onto the flat roof at the rear of Maryhill Road, his slow
progress due to the dense smoke filling the tenement close - there is no sign of
SubO McGill. Later investigations commented that it is not known whether the
SubO went into oxygen to aid his progress up the smoke-filled stairway in the
close (No.27, as it is later to be shown), but it was considered very probable. At
no time did McGill’s partner go into air, therefore he was extremely limited in his
ability to search the building.
Returning to the moment where D.O. Forbes had pitched a ladder with the aid of
civilians – a number of these civilians remained at the rear after D.O. Forbes had
climbed into the house and they recalled during the investigation a fireman
wearing BA appearing beside them at the rear of 27 Maryhill Road. One of these
civilians informed this fireman (now believed to be Sub.O. McGill) that there was
a woman trapped on an upper floor.
The “fireman” went up the ladder and entered the house, but after a short time
re-appeared calling down that there was nobody in the house (D.O. Forbes and
the Shield’s family having by now descended by a ladder pitched to the front of
the building). The civilian told the “fireman” that the woman was on the top flat
and the “fireman” disappeared once again into the interior.
Page 11
Back Court between Maryhill Road and
Great Western Road
D.O. Forbes now had returned to
the rear of this part of the tenement
building and through a momentary
break in the smoke managed to see
Sub.O McGill at a top floor window,
McGill calling down to him that he
had located the woman and that
they were alright.
D.O. Forbes at 20 Maryhill Road –
Send on 2 ambulances.
I had been watching events unfold
from my vantage point on the
opposite side of Maryhill Road and
witnessed a series of developments
I had never seen before or since for that matter. Standing where I was I could
see the whole of the Maryhill Road tenement buildings in front, to my left and
right as and when the smoke cleared with the prevailing winds. In disbelief I
watched a window of one of the upper floor homes to my left but not directly
above the fires darken, then blow out.
Moments later in another part in the row tenements in front of me, beyond the
party walls separating each of the tenement structures a first floor window blew
out. Almost immediately 50 feet (15 m) to my right another widow on an another
upper storey would blow out – the fires were breaking out along the row
tenement buildings, but with no distinguishable progression front, totally at
random, different floors, different parts of the row of buildings and at an alarming
rate. I can still remember watching two senior officers standing near to me who
were obviously totally at a loss why the fire was developing in such a random
manner and discussing how best to commit their remaining crews.
13.20:Informative message from D.O. Forbes at 20 Maryhill Road, Make pumps 8
The official report recorded – “On arrival on the fire-ground Dep. Fmr McGill is
struck by the extreme density and volume of smoke conditions which blanketed
the scene of operations.”
Page 12
Scene of Operations – Maryhill Road and Great Western Road
It must be pointed out that two-way personal radios had yet to be issued to
Glasgow Fire Service; therefore all communications would have been by “line of
sight” or runners, thus hampering any kind of command & control.)
The developing fire inside Bruce’s Furniture shop had now spread right through to
and erupted out of the windows on the Great Western Road side of the building,
climbing the face of the tenement above.
Great Western Road – Fully Developed
Deputy Firemaster McGill at 20
Maryhill Road, Make Pumps 12
Extract from the official report – “A
massive attack was directed on all
sides of the fire despite the difficult
and hazardous conditions which
prevailed, particularly at the inner
apex of the structure.”
Deputy Firemaster McGill at 20
Maryhill Road –A range of ground
floor buildings spreading from
Maryhill Road through to Gt.
Western Road. 10 jets in use,
rescues being effected.
At around 14.00 Dep Fmr McGill is
of the view that the fire is under
Page 13
sufficient control to order a further search of the buildings as a mater of priority.
A force of BA wearers embarks on a systematic search of all parts of the building
that they can enter.
14.11: Informative message from Deputy Firemaster McGill at 20 Maryhill Road –
Make pumps 14.
14.13: Informative message from Deputy Firemaster McGill at 20 Maryhill Road –
Fire in range of shops stretching from Maryhill Road through to Gt. Western Road.
15 jets, TL’s in use. *10 BA in use. Searching tenement property above shops.
(* This figure may sound like a ridiculously small number of BA sets in use at a
major incident, especially involving “rescues in progress”, however these were
the days where BA was only worn as a last resort, the majority of firemen of the
period preferring to rely on lung capacity and tenacity. “10 BA in use” was a very
large number and stations listening into the radio messages would have grasped
the magnitude of this fire. See final figure in “Extract from K433 Fire Report “Method of Extinguishing Fire” below.)
As the BA teams work their way through the dozens of smoke filled flats and
shops the bodies of Alice Mulgrew and SubO McGill are discovered in Alice
Mulgrew’s top floor flat kitchen apartment to the rear of the building, the same
apartment SubO McGill had called down from when he told D.O Forbes they were
alright - SubO McGill is not wearing his BA set.
Their bodies are brought to the front windows, where they are taken down by
Cage TL. SubO McGill’s body is pink in colour, indicating he has absorbed what
sadly proves to be a fatal level of carbon monoxide into his bloodstream. Neither
responds to efforts at resuscitation and pathological examination later revealed
that Alice Mulgrew had been similarly affected.
Rescue of Alice Mulgrew – Maryhill Road
Page 14
14.21: From Deputy Firemaster McGill
– 1 Fire Service casualty removed to
hospital for treatment.
The BA crew who having removed the
bodies to the front now attempt to
return to the rear of Alice Mulgrew’s flat
to examine the kitchen area further, but
moments later there is a roof collapse,
covering the kitchen in debris. Almost
immediately the back wall of the
building collapses along with the three
rear floors, burying Station Officer Hood
and Leading Fireman Clubb who are
working on the ground floor, trapping
them in the debris - along with Sub.O
McGill’s BA set.
Picture shows Stn O Hood after he was
rescued from the debris.
14.29: From Deputy Firemaster McGill 2
further
Fire
service
casualties
removed to hospital after being trapped
by falling debris.
15.13: From Deputy Firemaster McGill at Maryhill Road – Informative message:
17 jets now in use, including 2 Turntable Ladders and 2 Hydraulic Platforms (HP)
in use.
Complete floors in the rows of tenement buildings on Maryhill Road and Great
Western Road are now well alight; the collapse of the rear of no. 27 hampers
access for the crews as the remaining rear wall is in a dangerous condition with a
large bulge now evident. This situation creates the opportunity for the fire to
spread unchecked through the now exposed timber components of the structure
and apartments filled with furniture, each providing a ready source of fuel.
Firefighting – Great Western Road
The tenements sit on massive timber beams
straddling the shops below, these being the
Victorian method of supporting the building,
much as a rolled steel joist (RSJ) would today.
These beams however, now being 140 years
old are being subjected to tons of masonry
crashing down on them, fire burning them and
due to their sheer age they eventually give
way, with section after section after section of
the internal structure of the tenement crashing
down inside.
On Great Western Road the fire has spread
right through the tenement above Bruce’s
Furniture Retailers, where the whole section
between the party walls is now well alight and
a sustained attack is being mounted using
Page 15
aerial appliances to stop the spread
into other parts.
In the back-court core area
between
these
two
rows
of
converging tenements fire crews
are desperately fighting a losing
battle, lines of hose are being
dragged into the thus so far
unaffected tenements either side of
the two blazes in an attempt to
create a 5-sided stop.
More than once firemen are
evacuated
from
inside
the
buildings, and more than once the
firemen have to fight their way
back in again to fight the blaze.
Final Stages – Great Western Road
After a further three long hours of difficult and arduous fire-fighting conditions the
crews are making headway, albeit the destruction of all the shops and every
tenement flat between 17 to 55 Maryhill Road and between 36 to 62 Great
Western Road will be the final outcome - the Great Western Road side of
operations is under control, the fire is stopped from spreading further through the
void on Maryhill Road, however the row of tenements and shops initially involved
early on is now a smoking, burned out shell.
The “Stop” message is sent at 18.35 – From Deputy Firemaster McGill, Stop for
Maryhill Road, Details as per last informative message (15.13pm).
Final Stages – Maryhill Road
Page 16
Burned Out Shell – Maryhill Road
Investigation – Results
The investigation that followed was extensive and thorough; many questions had
to be answered, not only over the deaths of Sub O Adrian McGill and Alice
Mulgrew, but the reason why a shop fire that whilst on the face of it being serious
was not unusual in itself, could then turn into a conflagration of epic proportions.
Having collated written information over the years on this fire, collected anecdotal
accounts from some of the fireman there and added my own personal account the following I would consider not to be too far off the mark as to the major
contributing factors that turned a serious fire into this major incident –
1. The alterations in 1875 resulted in the builders constructing a flat roof on
the projecting shops that had no fire stops whatsoever. Consequently,
there was an unbroken hidden void between the shop ceilings and the
floors of the 1st floor tenement flats above the entire length (200 ft / 61
m) of the projecting shops of about 3 - 4 feet (1 to 1.5 m) in height.
2. The age and condition of the building at the time of the fire was such that
major structural components (timber beams) were almost certainly in a
state of decay, which in turn aided fire propagation and structural failures.
3. A number of “improvements “ had been carried out to the effected
buildings over the years, where during the course of these improvements
a significant number of party walls had been breached and the resulting
gaps not in-filled during the building work.
4. The original construction of the tenements was such that unbroken vertical
voids were created between the party walls that were almost the full width
and height of the buildings. When this fact combined with the various
party wall breaches (see 3 above) is combined then it is reasonable to
Page 17
conclude this also assisted in hidden fire travel throughout the range of
interconnected buildings.
5. The fact that a “through-and-through” shop had been created with no
consideration as to fire separation between the two buildings once again
aided the spread of fire as the structural integrity of the building had be
compromised.
6. The FAI considered that Sub.O. McGill on discovering Alice Mulgrew in an
unconscious condition removed his BA set to give his air to her, with dire
consequences. His BA set was recovered from the rubble and found to be
in working condition; therefore no other logical explanation could be put
forward.
7. Communications were restricted to “line of sight” on the fire ground as
Walkie-Talkies were not yet part of a fireman’s equipment. Because of this
senior officers were totally reliant on “runners” and what they could
actually see and their experience.
Numbers & Resources Used
41 Dwelling houses destroyed by fire and / or demolition resulting from fire
damage.
6 Shops destroyed by fire / demolition.
2 Public Houses destroyed by fire / demolition.
1 Post Office destroyed by demolition.
*15 civilians rescued by Extension or Turntable Ladder.
In addition to the above rescues the official investigation estimated that “other”
rescues numbered 100 to 200.
(*One of these civilians was rescued twice; first time when he got himself into a
situation of needing to be rescued by the fire brigade after leaving his wife and
child behind to fend for themselves (they escaped safely), and the second time
when he attempted to retrieve his predicament by going back to his house “to
rescue his wife and child” and then needed rescuing again! On the second
occasion one of his fireman rescuers personally provided him with a very positive
lesson for leaving his family behind the first time, whilst reinforcing the reason for
staying out of the building from then on.)
6 Glasgow Fire Service personnel and 6 civilians were removed to hospital.
•
•
(1 Fire Service fatality.)
(1 Civilian fatality.)
Extract from K433 Fire Report - “Method of Extinguishing Fire:
“Water from 17 jets, including two Turntable Ladders and one Hydraulic Platform
Pump monitors fed through 8 pumps from street hydrants.
30 Proto Mk5 BA sets used.”
Appliances / Services Attending
•
•
•
•
•
•
WrL: 8
WrE: 5
M.P.: 1
T.L.: 5
H.P.P.: 3
C.U.: 1
Page 18
•
•
•
•
•
E.T.: 2
C.V.: 1
Div. Staff Cars: 10
Glasgow Salvage Corps Tenders: 2
Scottish Ambulance Service Ambulances: 6.
In addition Control Units from the Gas, Electricity & Water utilities, Glasgow
Underground Emergency teams, GPO Telephones & Royal Mail were in
attendance.
A special mention must be given to The Salvation Army and their Canteen Unit,
who generously provided innumerable hot meals, gallons of tea and a “smiling
face” for hundreds of exhausted fire service & salvage corps personnel during the
incident – “Thank You” just isn’t enough.
Bob James.
Station Officer (Retired)
Glasgow Fire Service / Strathclyde Fire Brigade.
Page 19

Maryhill Road Fire - UK Fire Service Resources

Transcription

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Schedule - Masson Glennie

Présentation PowerPoint

McGill FSAE Design Update

party for a living

For Sale Classic 12 ft. Merrimack Skiff

we mean business.

Newsletter July 2010.pub

BP Readings – JW Pearson