Sessional_Paper_1949 — Page 7

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CHAPTER 1—THE WING ON FIRE AND THE APPOINTMENT OF

THE COMMISSION.

Outbreak of the Fire:

Just after 8 o'clock on the morning of 22nd September, 1948, the Fire Brigade and the Police Force were notified of an outbreak of fire in a range of tene- ment buildings in the neighbourhood of the Des Voeux Road West entrance to the Tai Ping Theatre. The whole block of buildings, Nos. 351 to 367 Des Voeux Road West, was rapidly enveloped in thick black smoke, with the Western end furiously ablaze. The initial outbreak of fire had been accompanied by a series of explosions of sufficient force to shoot a number of large iron drums and bales of raw rubber into and across the road, together with a tongue of flame clearly emanating from a hole in the top of a bricked up doorway on the ground floor of No. 363. The ground floor of the tene- ments formed part of a godown belonging to the Wing On Company.

Action by the Fire Brigade:

2. The first fire appliance to reach the scene came from the Western Fire Station and arrived very soon after the first report of the outbreak. It was soon followed by other appliances from the Central Fire Station. As it was quickly realized that a number of persons were trapped by the fire in the upper stories of the tenements, the Fire Brigade first turned its attention to the rescue of a number of persons who had collected on the 3rd floor of the most easterly tenement, which was not so firmly alight as the remainder of the block. All but one of these persons were rescued quickly and efficiently by escape ladder; this person lost his foothold on the ladder, slipped and was killed. About 60 persons were rescued in this way. On the western side of the build- ing a man and woman were also rescued by jumping some 60 feet from the third floor of the tenements into a jumping sheet held by firemen and policemen. A little later Acting Deputy Chief Officer Tiplady and Divisional Officer Browne using the long escape ladder with the aid of a fireman rescued another man and woman from the same floor. The removal of casualties and injured by ambulance completed rescue operations.

3. Separated from the rear of the tenements by a scavenging lane, some six feet wide, was the principal godown of the Wing On Company, the main entrance to which was on the seafront. This godown was also found to be alight at an early stage of the fire, and, in spite of efforts to control it, the fire managed to get a firm grip on every floor.

By the middle of the day the whole building was blazing fiercely. On the other hand, efforts to damp down the fire in godown No. 5 met with a greater measure of success and some of the rooms at the eastern end were by no means burnt out.

4. About 10 o'clock, the wind increased considerably in strength, blowing the flames to the west in the direction of the Interocean Lines offices and godown, and adding to the difficulties of the Fire Brigade. It rained intermittently during the day. The road on the seafront had been under repair and the surface in front of the principal godown had been dug up, leaving a depression some two feet deep in which water collected, making conditions very unpleasant for the fire-fighters.

5. It was therefore perhaps not surprising that during the afternoon some of the firemen began to show signs of exhaustion. An offer of assistance by the Police Force was gratefully accepted by the Chief Officer, and thereafter police in relays con- tinued to help the Fire Brigade until the fire was officially regarded as under control. In the afternoon parts of the upper stories of the principal godown collapsed, and cracks appeared in the walls, rendering it unsafe for the firemen to continue their activities on the ground floor inside the building.

6. The fire in the main godown raged violently through the night of 22nd September, grimly fought by the fire-fighters, who succeeded in preventing its spread to adjoining buildings. At about 4 o'clock on the following day, the Chief Officer regarded it as under control, but it was not until almost a week later that the last embers were extinguished.