Fireworks and nightclub fires

At least 59 people were killed in the North Macedonia nightclub fire which appears to have been set off by fireworks. As I reveal in my recent book A History of Fireworks (Reaktion Books), accidents of this kind have become disturbingly familiar.

The North Macedonia fire happened on 16 March in Kocani, 60 miles from the capital Skopje, where about 500 people were attending a concert by DNK, one of the country's most popular bands. The blaze seems to have been started by sparks from flares hitting the ceiling which was made of inflammable material. 

There were reports that the venue was not licensed, and survivors spoke of there being only one exit, and of those trying to escape being trampled in the crush. Only one member of the band survived, and police detained 15 people.

In 2003, 100 people were killed at a club in West Warwick, Rhode Island, USA as they watched the rock band Great White, who had just incorporated pyrotechnics into their act. Sparks set fire to inflammable foam lining the ceiling, walls and even an exit door. One band member was killed. 

The following year, nearly 200 people died in an eerily similar fire at a nightclub in Buenos Aires. Among those gaoled were members of the rock band who had been performing. Then in 2009, 156 people perished at the Lame Horse club at Perm in Russia. The building had no fire exits.

But the worst disaster came at the Kiss club in Santa Maria, Brazil in 2013 (pictured). Again, the band set off a flare which ignited soundproofing foam on the ceiling, filling the place with toxic fumes. Police said the club had no working fire extinguishers and exits were poorly signposted. The death toll was 242.

 

Denmark Place: London's forgotten fire that killed 37 people

In 1980, the area in London's Charing Cross Road near the junction with Oxford Street where the new Tottenham Court Road station stands, was a hotbed of unlicensed drinking clubs. The police were always closing them down, but they always seemed to open up again under new management.

On Monday 18 August, they were due to close down a South American club named Rodo's and a Spanish night club, El Hueco, the Hole, which occupied the upper floors of a building in Denmark Place, behind Denmark Street, 'Tin Pan Alley', once the heart of London's rock scene.

Just after 3.30 in the morning on Saturday, 16 August, Soho fire station, just a few hundred yards away, got a call to say the Denmark Place building was on fire. The fire brigade had not even known of the clubs' existence. There were about 150 people inside, what should have been escape routes were locked, and the fire had spread so fast that some people died with drinks still in their hands.

As for those who got out, some were illegal immigrants and melted away into the night, including quite a few who seemed quite badly injured. A man was later convicted of deliberately starting the fire, and died in prison. For more, see my book London's Disasters from Boudicca to the Banking Crisis (The History Press).

Quoting the book and an interview that I did in 2015, the Daily Express has just published an article marking the 44th anniversary of the fire

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1945243/John-Thompson-uk-biggest-mass-murderer-denmark-place-fire

A couple of caveats about the article. The title of 'Britain's biggest mass murderer' has surely now been taken by Harold Shipman, while Grenfell now has the unenviable record of being London's worst fire since the Blitz.

My BBC radio interview: Devon's worst disasters

Really interesting to be interviewed (again) by Pippa Quelch on BBC Radio Devon on the subject of Devon's worst disasters. 

Here are the shipwrecks of the Coronation and the Ramillies, how pilfering of gunpowder led to the Amphion blowing up. The great fires of Tiverton and the blaze that destroyed Exeter's Theatre Royal, the Blitz in Plymouth and the Lynmouth floods. More about all of them in my book A Disastrous History of Britain.

You can hear the interview here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bmmdxj

The world's deadliest tower block fires

A retired judge, Sir Martin Moore-Bick, has been appointed to head the official inquiry into London’s Grenfell Tower fire in which at least 79 people died, while the police say they are investigating any criminal offences that may have been committed.

The deadliest ever fire in a tower block (or blocks) was the result of the terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Centre on 11 September 2001, which cost more than 2,300 lives, but the worst accidental fire was probably the one that raged through the 25-storey Joelma office building in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 1 February 1974. (Grenfell Tower had 24 storeys.)

The blaze happened just a few weeks after the disaster movie, The Towering Inferno, was released, and it became known as ‘the real Towering Inferno’. It was started by an electrical fault on the 11^th floor, and spread rapidly thanks to the ready availability of combustible materials such as paper, plastics and wooden walls and furniture.

When the blaze began, there were more than 750 people in the building. More than 170 fled to the roof, but the heat and smoke foiled a helicopter rescue, and about 40 were killed jumping down or trying to get to firemen’s ladders out of reach below them. Altogether up to 189 people died. 

Tower block disasters

The fire that raged through 24 storey Grenfell Tower, which has killed 79 people, is the deadliest in London during the 21^st century, and the worst ever in a UK tower block. Another fourteen people are in hospital.

Until now, London’s most notorious tower block disaster was Ronan Point in Newham in 1968. The building had 23 storeys and was brand new. Families had been in for only two months when at six o’ clock on a May morning, they were woken by a huge explosion and some found their walls ripped away, leaving them staring at a fearful drop just a few feet away.

The whole of one corner had simply fallen away. On floor after floor, furniture was left perched on the edge of the abyss. Five people were killed and eleven injured.

The cause was a gas explosion on the 18^th floor – the result of a substandard brass nut connecting a cooker to the gas supply. The council repaired the block and moved tenants back in, but the explosion was a major blow to the prestige of tower blocks, and in 1986, Ronan Point was demolished.

For the story, see London’s Disasters. From Boudicca to the Banking Crisis.

Devastating forest fires

There are fears that the wildfire that has devastated the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada could get even bigger. Already it is said to be covering an area as big as New York City, and 80,000 people have been evacuated.

So far there are no reports of deaths or injuries, but the blaze is happening in the heart of Canada’s oil sands country, and there is concern it might reach extraction facilities and spark a major explosion. More than 1,000 firefighters, using 150 helicopters and 27 aircraft, have been deployed against the flames.

Probably the deadliest wildfire in Canadian history was the Matheson Fire of 29 July 1916, which destroyed six towns in Ontario, and devastated two more, as well as killing more than 220 people. It started when fires deliberately set to clear forest using slash and burn, got out of control.

Even worse was the fire that devastated Peshtigo and other lumber towns on the banks of Lake Michigan across the border in Wisconsin, USA on 8 October 8 1871, killing more than 1,150 people. It began in the forest surrounding the towns after a long dry spell. For the story, see A Disastrous History of the World. (See also my posts of 7 and 8 February 2009.)

Is this the world's deadliest firework accident?

Nearly 100 people are believed to have been killed in what may have been the deadliest firework disaster in history. It came at a display to celebrate the Hindu new year at a temple in southern India. The number injured is put at up to 350.

The fire at the Puttingal temple in Kollam, Kerala, is believed to have been caused by a stray firework hitting a firework store and causing a major explosion or perhaps a series of blasts. There are suggestions that dynamite sticks were also being stored. According to some reports, the explosions caused a roof to collapse, trapping people beneath.

About 6,000 people had been attending the festivities, and local residents spoke of concrete blocks flying through the air, and landing in gardens.

Southern India suffered another serious firework disaster in 2012 in the town of Sivakasi, known as India’s firework capital, because it turns out perhaps 70 per cent of the country’s production. 40 people were killed and 70 injured in an explosion at a factory that did not have a valid licence.

(See also my posts of 28 January, 25 March, 28 October and 3 November 2013.)

20 years ago today - a deadly disco fire

It was 20 years ago today….that one of the worst night club fires in history swept through the Ozone disco in Quezon City in the Philippines, killing at least 162 people (the site is pictured above). At the time there were 390, mainly students, inside premises that were licensed to hold only 35.

Just after midnight, survivors reported seeing sparks in the disc jockey’s booth, followed by smoke, which they thought at the time was part of the act. Within minutes, though, the building was engulfed in flames and part of it collapsed.

The president and treasurer of the company that operated the disco were imprisoned for providing inadequate fire exits and other fire precautions. In 2014 seven city officials were convicted over irregularities in the way safety permits had been issued.

The world’s deadliest ever nightclub fire happened at Cocoanut Grove in Boston on 28 November 1942, when 490 died. There too fire exits were inadequate, with the fire brigade saying 300 lives could have been saved if they had simply opened outwards instead of inwards. For the full story, see A Disastrous History of the World.

The real 'Towering Inferno'

On this day…..42 years ago, fire broke out in the 25-storey Joelma Building in the centre of Sao Paulo in Brazil. The blaze happened just a few weeks after the disaster movie, The Towering Inferno, was released, and it became known as ‘the real Towering Inferno’.

The fire was started by an electrical fault on the 11^th floor, and spread rapidly thanks to the ready availability of combustible materials such as paper, plastics and wooden walls and furniture, and within a few minutes, flames were leaping right up to the roof.

When the blaze began, there were more than 750 people inside, but the building had no emergency exits, fire alarms or sprinkler systems. More than 170 fled to the roof, but the heat and smoke foiled a helicopter rescue, and about 40 were killed jumping down or trying to get to firemen’s ladders out of reach below them.

Others died of suffocation attempting to escape via the building’s escalators, and altogether up to 189 people were killed. After the disaster, Brazil’s fire regulations were tightened up.

The Bradford City fire: was it arson?

More than 30 years since the Bradford City fire in which 56 football fans died, a dramatic new development. West Yorkshire Police has referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over its investigation into the blaze.

This follows a meeting with Martin Fletcher, whose father, brother, uncle and grandfather, all died at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985. In his recent book, Fifty-Six: The Story of the Bradford Fire, he claimed the fire was one of nine that had happened at businesses linked with the club’s then chairman, Stafford Heginbotham.

The official inquiry had concluded the blaze was caused by a discarded cigarette setting fire to rubbish that had accumulated over years under an old timber stand. The structure was engulfed in minutes, and because doors at the back were locked, many spectators could not escape.

The police say Mr Fletcher’s book has raised ‘serious issues’, and that it is important that they are addressed.

For more on the fire, see A Disastrous History of Britain.

20 years ago today - the world's deadliest subway disaster

It was 20 years ago today…..the world’s deadliest subway fire killed at least 289 people on the Baku Metro in Azerbaijan, as fire broke out on a train between two stations during the Saturday evening rush hour on 28 October 1995.

As smoke appeared in one of the five carriages, the lights went out, and the train came to a standstill. Passengers tried to get out of the coaches, but a set of doors jammed, and some were poisoned by fumes from burning fittings.

The driver had reported the incident and asked for the power to be switched off, but a number of people were electrocuted as they grabbed cables in an effort to escape. Among the dead were 28 children.

A government inquiry concluded that the fire was caused by an electrical fault, and two metro officials were sent to gaol, but others believed the real cause might have been a terrorist bomb. Incidentally, the Baku Metro, like the one in Moscow, is something of an architectural showpiece (see picture).

*For more, see A Disastrous History of the World.

London theatre fires and riots

Boyd Hilton’s excellent volume on English history from 1783 to 1846 in the New Oxford History of England – A Mad, Bad and Dangerous People? - mentions one of the many disasters to afflict London’s theatres.

The Covent Garden Theatre was burned down twice – in 1808 and 1856. The first fire in September 1808 destroyed not just the building, but also the costumes, the scenery and the scripts, but thanks partly to some chivvying from King George III, Londoners contributed generously enough to help the owners get the theatre rebuilt and reopened just a year later.

To recoup some of the considerable sums they had invested, the owners decided to put up the prices. On the first night of Macbeth, patrons rioted until the early hours of the morning over the new charges, and that was just the start of the so-called ‘old price riots’ which went on for 64 days.

In the end, the manager and part owner of the theatre, John Kemble, a distinguished actor, had to deliver a public apology, and announce that the increases were being withdrawn. (See also my blog of 21 December 2013.)

Another Hajj tragedy

All able-bodied Muslims who can afford it are supposed to go to Mecca during the week of the Hajj at least once in their lives, but this year the event has again been marred by tragedy, as 107 people were killed when a crane collapsed on top of worshippers gathering outside the Grand Mosque.

The crane was operated by the Saudi Binladin Group (some relation – it is run by Osama’s brother). The group has been hired on a 4 year contract worth $27 billion to expand the Grand Mosque.

The accident happened during high winds and heavy rain, and one of the company’s engineers said it was an ‘act of God’, but the Saudi government’s official mouthpiece said the Binladin Group had not ‘respected the rules of safety’, and the company’s directors have been ordered not to leave the country.

At the Hajj in 1990, more than 1,400 pilgrims were killed in a fatal crush in a tunnel. Four years later, at least 270 died in another stampede. A fire in 1997 killed 343, and further stampedes in 2004 and 2006 killed another 580.

Pakistan's 9/11

On this day………….3 years ago, more than 280 people were killed in a fire at a clothing factory in Baldia Town, Karachi in what is believed to be the worst disaster of its kind in Pakistan’s history.

The Ali Enterprises factory exported clothes to Europe and the United States.  An inspection in 2007 had revealed deficiencies in fire precautions, but a few weeks before the blaze in 2012, the building passed a safety test.

But when fire raced through the factory, it was said that exit doors were locked and windows were covered with iron bars, trapping victims inside. It was reported that it took the fire brigade 75 minutes to reach the scene.

A judicial inquiry concluded that the fire was caused by an electrical fault, but then in February of this year came claims that the MQM, one of Karachi’s leading political parties, had been involved in starting it. Last month, it was reported that investigators had travelled to London to interview the factory’s owners.  

London's deadliest fire since the Blitz - another story

On July 19, I blogged about a story in the Express on the Denmark Place fire of 16 August 1980 - an arson attack that killed 37 people  - in which I was quoted.

Now I am also quoted in a story the Independent has written about the blaze - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/denmark-place-arson-why-people-are-still-searching-for-answers-35-years-on-from-one-of-the-biggest-mass-murders-in-our-history-10467987.html

For a long time, the crime was largely ignored by the media, so as it passes its 35th anniversary, it is good to see that being rectified, and Simon Usborne has done a really good job, turning up a lot of material I have not seen before.

Forgotten tragedy - London's deadliest fire since the Blitz

The 35th anniversary of Britain's deadliest fire since the Blitz is approaching. For a long time, it attracted remarkably little attention, but that is changing.

I was interviewed by the Express for a story they've just published -

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/591917/Denmark-Place-fire-London-s-worst-blaze-killed-37-so-why-has-it-been-forgotten

The fire struck two unlicensed drinking clubs in Denmark Place in London's colourful Soho area in the early hours of 16 August 1980. A disgruntled customer had poured petrol through the letter box and set fire to the building.

The flames spread with alarming speed, and there were no proper means of escape, so 37 people died. The story of the fire is in my London's Disasters, and the Express story covers some of the developments since the book was published.

97 years ago - a dreadful racecourse disaster

On this day……..97 years ago, about 670 people were killed in a disastrous fire at Hongkong's Happy Valley racecourse. The track had been opened in 1846 to provide entertainment for British people in the colony, but had become even more popular with the Chinese.

On 26 February, 1918, thousands of people had flocked to the course, but just as the runners and riders were lining up for the first race, a huge fire broke out in highly inflammable temporary stands made of rattan and bamboo.

A reporter wrote that ‘awful confusion ensued’, and that the stands collapsed in a few seconds, with a sound like the ‘rasping of a saw’. A survivor recounted how he had at first urged people to stay calm, but that the structure had collapsed and he had found himself pinned under debris. He managed to cut himself out with a pocket knife.

An official inquiry declared that most of the dead were Chinese women and children. The cause of the fire has never been established, though it may have been an overturned cooking pot. Among the factors that turned it into a disaster were that too many people had been admitted to the stands, and that the inadequate water supply prevented the fire brigade from getting the flames under control until it was too late. 

Death of a palace - 317 years ago today

On this day………………317 years ago, London’s Palace of Whitehall burned down. Once the greatest palace in Europe, it met its end when a servant put some linen to dry by a fire, then left it.

Soon not only the linen but the whole room was alight, and by the time the alarm was raised, the flames had taken such a strong hold that the primitive fire-fighting apparatus of the time could make no impression on them.

The blaze raged for 16 hours, and destroyed the whole palace apart from the Holbein Gate and the Banqueting Hall (pictured), with its magnificent Rubens ceiling, where Charles I had been executed half a century before.

The fire also destroyed 150 nearby houses, mostly homes of the nobility. William III, who was king at the time, didn’t like the palace, believing it aggravated his asthma, and so it was never rebuilt. For more, see London’s Disasters.

Crystal Palace fire + 78

On this day……………….78 years ago, London’s Crystal Palace burned down. It was an extraordinary place – more than 600 yards long and more than 120 feet high, containing more glass than had ever before been seen in a single building. Originally built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, it was then moved to Penge Common.

The fire began in a ladies’ lavatory while the general manager, Sir Henry Buckland, was walking in the grounds with his daughter named (what else?) Chrystal. Encouraged by a fierce wind and the acres of timber flooring, the flames took hold in no time, and when the fire brigade arrived, the cause was already lost, and the efforts of more than 400 firemen came to nothing.

An estimated 100,000 people turned out to watch one of the most spectacular fires in London’s history. It could be seen from 8 counties. In Streatham, they hired out binoculars at 2d a look, while the better heeled chartered aeroplanes from Croydon Aerodrome.

Controversy now surrounds a plan to rebuild the landmark as part of a major redevelopment of the area, with complaints that local people are being kept in the dark.  For the full story of the fire, see my book London’s Disasters.

London theatre disasters

Last Friday (the thirteenth, of December) I was watching a play at the Apollo Theatre in London. Six days later, the ceiling fell in on the dress circle, where I had been sitting, injuring 76 people.

Still, that was not nearly as bad as some of the earlier disasters that struck the capital's theatres. The first Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, was burned down in 1672. The second was declared unsafe and closed, while the third lasted just 15 years before it too caught fire, and was razed to the ground in 1809.

In the 17 years from 1863, there were 14 major fires in London theatres, and the head of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, produced a report lambasting the inadequacy of their safety precautions.

Shaw was a great friend of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and would tip the prince off if there was a particularly 'good' fire, so he could tag along for a bit of amateur firefighting. One blaze at the Alhambra in Leicester Square almost cost the future king his life when a wall collapsed, narrowly missing him.

For more, see London's Disasters.