LONDON FIRE
BANK OF ENGLAND OUTBREAK ON ROOF OF BUILDING CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE (United Tress Assn.—By Telegraph—Copyright.) (Rec. 10.45 p.m.) London, December 16. "Bank of England afire!” A telephone message sent 25 fire-engines and over 100 firemen dashing madly to the building. Huge crowds assembled and saw flames shoot high from the cabin of an electric crane on the roof, where rebuilding is in progress. Detachments of the Coldstream Guards on duty at the bank turned out with fixed bayonets to guard the underneath vaults in which there is £125,000,000 in gold. It took the firemen half an hour to master the outbreak, which occurred 130 ft above the street level in an inaccessible part. Firemen had to be hoisted aloft in cranes to direct the hoses.
The damage was considerable, but it was stated afterwards that even if the bank had been burned out the vaults would have been safe, as each has a wall of steel and concrete eight feet thick with doors leading to them weighing 12 tons, which can only be operated by an electric device.
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Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 21579, 17 December 1931, Page 7
Word Count
179LONDON FIRE Southland Times, Issue 21579, 17 December 1931, Page 7
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