The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-09-02 00:00:00

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE INLONDON,

On Tuesday morning, between two and three, the preimises of
Mr. Wilson, 'tea dealer, No. 1, King William- street, at the foot
of London Bridge, were discovered to be on fire, the flames rising
from the lower part of the house. The inmates were promptly
alarmed- some fortunately -escaped on the door being broken
open. Mr. Wilson, who slept on the second floor, finding all '
egress impeded by the fire, which was then rapidly ascending,
precipitated himself out of the window, and had one arm broken,
and a leg broken in•two places. He was taken to Sf. Thomas's
Hospital. A report was circulated that his housekeeper had
perished. In a few minutes after the flames were seen, several
engines. were on .the spot, but they had no power over the fire,
which consumed-the building of :11r. Wilson, and communicated
to the house next door, in the occupation of Messrs. Edward
Wigan and Co._, bop factors, which was also entirely destroyed,
together with the premises of Messrs. J. Goodchild, jun. and.
Co., glass cutters, which were in continuation. The loss of
property on this side of the street was severe, but it was trifling
compared with what followed from the extension of the fire to
Fleming's wharf,..vihose premises faced Mr. Wigan's, and ex,
tended•to the water side, an immense stock of goods being here
depoiited.
The firemen did. their utmost to prevent the progress of -the
flames, the heat arising from which was so intense as to be felt
at a considerable distance. But, notwithOanding their utmost
exertions, the flames were carried across the street,. and ignited
the warehouse-rooms through the windows, in which there was
.property of a very combustible nature. No power of water had
any effect, and the rapidity with which the fire advanced• was
awful. In Ushort time the flames reached the north side of the
large building, penetrating through the casement with great
violence, and descending towards the goods on.the wharf, off
'which were several vessels lying, laden with valuable cargoes,
but fortunately not being flood tide, they were shaken off. An
immense number of engines were at this time playing upon the
burning materials; the floating engine assisted, but without
much effect, and te whole pile, with- the extensive and valuable
stock, was ultimately destroyed. The ruins present a most
melancholy appearance.; occasionally portions of the massive
walls falling. It is yet impossible to calculate the loss of pro-
perty, though it must be immense. We have not heard of any
lives being lost, except the housekeeper above alluded to. A
fireman named Fenn was-injured by a wall falling. Besides the
above-nained:ltersons whose premises were injured, Messrs.
Edgington, marquee manufacturers ; Mr. Garnet, and Messrs.
Healey; lie Witt, and Co., cheesemongers, have had property
destroyed. Mr. Wilson's public-house at the corner escaped
with but slight damage. Great credit is due both to the city
and metropolitan police.
Another account states that property to the amount of up-
' wards of £300,000 was consumed How it originated nu person
can tell, bat it is supposed to have been by, the escape of the
gas. Had there been at the time of the arrival et the various
engines (about twenty in nuinber) a plentiful .supply of water,
not one quarter of the, property would have been destroyed; for
upwards of fifty minutes fourteen engines were standing idle
from want of a supplyuf water., The conflagration was net got
under till about eight this morning, amid the engiues_ continued
playing- on the burning embers nearly all the day. 'No lives
were lost, but several serious accidents occurred. The parties
are in some cases insured, but we fear that property to an im-
mense amount has been. destroyed which had not , been insured
for a farthing. The proprietor of Cotton's wharf had property
in cellars behind Mr. Wilson's house to the amount of f.:23,060,
and we regret to hear that only a part of it was insured.
Another account estimates•the damage at the value of at least
£500,000. The premises of Messrs. Wilson and Co. have their
foundations in Tooley-street, and are car tied up to a great height,
so as to form a conspicuous frontage in Duke-street, on a line
with the bridge. Fenning's wharf occupies a great extent of
frontage from the bridge down Tooley-street, and was recently
rebuilt at an enormous cost. Nothing remains but the bare ex-
ternal walls; all within is a vast pile of still burning ruins. The
rental of these wharfs was £BOO per annum:
The first alarm of fire was given at the fire-station in Morgan's-
lane, 'rooky-street, about a quarter past two, and was soon after
conveyed in all.directions to the numerous other stations of the
Landon Fire Brigade. Within ten minutes after the alarm had
reached the head station, in Watling-street, Mr. Braidwood, the
superintendent, with four large engines and a strong body of
men, reached the spot. The engine from Morgan-street had
before arrived, and several others of the establishment engines
kept rapidly arriving, so that in a very short period Mr. Braid-
wood had under his directions eleven large engines and fifty-
seven firemen. The floating engine was brought up at it later
period. Had the supply of' water been abundant in the first in-
stance Mr. Braidwood considers he could have prevented the
fire extending beyond the premises of Messrs. Wilson and Co.,
where it commenced. At last it was the efficient service ren-
dered by the floating engine, which as the tide came in was able
to advance nearer upon the burning masses, and to pour forth
immense streams of water thereon, which contributed mainly to
check the further
.progress.of the flames. Many of' the ware-
houses which caught fire had. no residents, and it was necessary
to break ther% openovhich, from the strength of the fastenings,
caused a loss of much time.. Only two wharfs distant from
Fenning's wharf were known to be large warehouses stored with
saltpetre, turpentine, and other fierce combustibles. Fortu-
nately the flames did not reach these, or tbe destruction might
have been awful. Mr. Wilson was a young man, and had only:
been in business a few years, having lifted up the new premises
very handsomely, and at a great expense. It was reported this
morning that he had died of the injuries received in his fall;
but we are glad to hear that this is not true, and that up to.hall-
past one this afternoon he was doing as well as, or, indeed; bet-
ter than could have been expected, considering the dreadful
state in which he was taken to the hospital.
The amount of damage has been estimated at various, sums,
between £300.000 and £500,000, but all at presentmust be mere
conjecture. Many of the neighbours believe, however, that.
even the largest sum mentioned will be found under the actual
loss sustained.--Morriing Post.