STAFF’S EFFORTS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25346, 20 November 1947, Page 7

STAFF’S EFFORTS

Attempts To Fight Flames “MAGNIFICENT TEAM SPIRIT ” The efforts of the staff to fight the fire, and the confusion that occurred because of the absence of flames at the start, were described yesterday by two of the firm’s employees. One. a member of the office staff, said that the events seemed like a dream, and that his thoughts and memory were not what they should have been. Both men said that the seriousness of the outbreak was not realised by many until it was too late. There waa a lot of smoke about at the start, but most of the workers, even after they had heard the fire siren, thought there was a minor fire in some part of the building, or even in a neighbouring building, and continued with their work. When the smoke became too thick in one department the employees covered some of the goods, and left the building. They were amazed when they saw flames leaping from other parts of the building. Several employees took fire extinguishers and went in search of the seat of the fire. They were baffled by the absence of flames, and their efforts were hampered by smoke clouds which were billowing through almost every department, and they were further confused when the lights failed. Within a few minutes the flames swept through the building, and it became obvious that their only course was to abandon all efforts to save the building and escape. One man turned on a small hose which was on the premises As he could not see any flames he turned the jet off, and in the seconds that it took him to turn flames spread through the whole room. He escaped with minor scorches.

All the employees who were working at the building yesterday said that there had been a magnificent team spirit when it became obvious that the fire was serious and that lives were endangered. Some men and women, they said, sacrificed their lives in an effort to save or help friends. A former London resident who had worked for Ballantyne’s for some time said that he had been in London throughout the blitz in the recent war. He had not seen a single burning building in London which had been gutted as quickly aS Ballantyne’s.