SPECTACULAR LONDON FIRE

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 227, 24 April 1933, Page 2

SPECTACULAR LONDON FIRE

Biggest for Many Years

GLARE SEEN 20 MILES

AWAY

Whole City Lit Up

London, April 22. —The 'biggest find most spectacular fire in London for many years occurred last night in Rum Quay, West India docks. A vast warehouse in which millions of gallons of rum were stored in kegs and vats caught five. Saint Paul's was silhouetted against the glow, which was seen for 20 miles. The whole of London was lit as if by floodlights and enormous crowds watched the scene. The flames rose to a height of 80 feet and the glow was observed from a distance of 30 miles. Three and a-half million gallons of rum stored in bonded warehouses blazed fiercely for five hcurs, despite the effort of 400 firemen. Cascades of blazing liquor from the bursting barrels poured on the dock and burned furiously on the surface of the water. The fumes were so overpowering to the firemen that they had to work in relays, finally using oxygen-breathing masks. The damage is estimated at £4,000,000.