The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-20 00:00:00

DREADFUL FIRE AT POPLAR AND

LOSS OF LIFE.

Yesterday (Monday) an early hour, there was
b:fire in the neighbourhood of Penny-fields, Pop-
la:',. which was attended with the loss of of,e life and
serious, if not fatal consequences to two other per-
sons—one a man between 60 and 70 years of age,
the oller a giii about six or seven years old. The
premisos in which the disaster originated were
situate at
41 in the before-named fields, the lower
part of the building being in the occupation of a..
boot and shoe maker named D. J. Donovan, whose,
family consisted of four or five persons, and thee
upper floor was in the occupation of another family
named Donovan, but not related to the other. For
tunately, the proprietor a the shoe shop and his
family were not at home wh;lia the fire commenced.
The premises of Mr. Donovan Nrere next door to the
property of Mr. Quin, proprietor a the Silver Lion
Tavern, and it was owing to a little girl who was
in this house that the fire was first discasered.
She, it appeared, while proceeding to her bedroom,
moment's'
had her attention directed to a loud crackling noise
in the next house. This being accompanied milli
making
her that
dense volumes of smoke at once convinced
been
father sl e sleeping painndg
sensible
the place was on fire, and, without a
delay, she called to Mr. Quin, 'who raised a
general alarm, and who succeeded in
0 oTbhiledrreenh,atdbeithe
inmates, who were in their beds asleep,
intmother,he
. named Esther
and the servant girl, aged 13 years
soafmtheeriroodmantgherre
Donovan. The three children, and the father And
mother, were got out of the blazing building, buthow it is not precisely known
seized hold of two of his children,only that the father-
under his arms through the whom he carried
flames, but in so doing
the unfortunate man and
his daughter Mary were
d
both seriously burnt, a
where they rem n were removed to the hos-
pital,ain in a very precarious state..
The last persons who left, it is believed, were the
expected that th of her children. It was at first
e servant girl had also been rescued
and had taken
shelter in the house of a neighbour,
as she could
fortunatel , not be heard of during the fire. Un-
,., the poor creature was burnt to death
in the
flames. The firemen, under the direction of
Mr. Bridges, the .
chief officer of the t district, and
engineer Withers, backed
by the parish engine-
keepers, were enabledl to get the flames at Length
extinguished, but not until the premises
vrerc
totally destroyed. Further inquiries having been
made for the girl, who was still missing, M'''
Bridges gave instructions to the firemen to search'
the ruins, and, after the lapse of a few minutes,
they found her burnt in a frightful manner from
head to foot. Life was quite extinct. The mangled
remains were removed to await the coroner's inquest.
As to the origin of the fire, not the least reliable
information could be obtained beyond the fact that
it must have commenced in the front shop, and have
extended up the staircase to the top
of the build-
ing. Mr. Braidwood, in his official reNo. port,4l desPenny.cribes
the damage done as follows :—" ,
fields, Poplar, Mr. Dennis J. Donovan, boot and
shoe maker; the house and contents all but destroyed.
The cause of fire unknown. Contents insured in the
Sun Fire-office. Building not known if insured. The
fire was extinguished by the parish engineer and fire-
men. Mr. D. Donovan, aged 70, and Mary Dono-
van, severely burnt, and taken to the hospital, and
the servant (Pirl burnt to death. No. 42, Pe"Y-
fields, Mr. T..SilverQuin, victualler, the Lion, roof
damaged by breakage, ceilings by water, and win-
dow glass broken. Insured in the loyal Exchange
Fire-office for contents, &c."