lapsing roofs, ceilings and balconies, choking smoke and heat. After 25 minutes the Officer Commanding, who by this time was convinced that another heavy death toll lay beneath the debris, was informed that the original report was false.
Gloucester Arcade, City of Victoria
77. On 1st September, 1962, towards the end of typhoon 'Wanda', a call was received to a fire which had broken out in a sports outfitting shop in the Gloucester Arcade. The fire was unusual due to the complete absence of any living or material thing which could have caused it. Power and lighting supplies were off, the shop unoccupied and intact, (firemen having to break windows to gain entry) and finally there was no material stored on the premises likely to cause spontaneous combus- tion. This led a bewildered and somewhat harassed investigating officer to record the cause of fire as 'complete mystery'.
Un Chau Street, Kowloon
78. The greatest single life loss for many years at one fire occurred in Nos. 486 - 490 Un Chau Street on 8th August, 1962, in the early hours of the morning. A special report has been submitted in respect of this fire which resulted in the death of 44 persons and 16 persons injured and rescued by Fire Service personnel. The fire broke out on the ground floor in a shop containing joss papers, joss sticks and firecrackers, together with machinery and personal effects. The buildings generally were used for minor industry, shops and domestic dwellings. The property at risk was $600,000, the estimated damage $208,000. San Wai Village, Kowloon
79. At 4 a.m. on the morning of 18th October, 1962, one of the most difficult squatter fires of the year broke out on the hillside at the back of Castle Peak Road. Squatters overlapped the boundary of Wing Hing Street; as a result, reinforced concrete structures in this street were also involved. Under the influence of a strong northerly wind and low humidity the fire spread rapidly up the hillside over an area of 100,000 square feet before it could be stopped from involving the nearby village of Tsap Fai. Some 800 were made homeless, and the direct financial loss to the villagers ran into $60,000.
Larch Street, Kowloon
80. Just before midday on 7th October, 1962, a fire broke out in an illegal structure on the roof of a 3-storey reinforced concrete factory building. The fire, which was quickly extinguished, is of interest only because it illustrates the considerable hazard to modern structures
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