10.15am Wednesday 11th April
1951. Building work to FW Woolworth
in Strand Street was well advanced when a tarpaulin separating the store
and the building works caught fire. The general manager Mr
Bartlett, raised the alarm and evacuated all the customers from the
store. He then led some of his staff with fire extinguishers to
tackle the fire whilst some other staff formed a bucket chain all to no
avail. By this time the fire had a hold on the building. The
Douglas Brigade arrived within minutes of the call and immediately
slipped and pitched the 50' Merry weather Marguis wheeled escape to the
front of the building and firemen directed a jet onto the fire.
Firemen then had to be withdrawn from Strand Street when a section of
the roof and parts of the wall started to fall. The fire was
brought under control by midnight.
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