FUEL AND FLAMES
Bristol’s biggest peacetime fire broke out 70 years ago today. We look at the huge fight to tackle the blaze
EXACTLY 70 years ago today, the biggest ever fire to affect Bristol in peacetime was raging, as 14 million gallons of petrol, oil and aviation spirit went up in flames.
A vast plume of black smoke rose into sky so high that it could be seen 100 miles away.
At about 3.45pm on Thursday, September 6, 1951, an explosion in one of the tanks at the Regent Oil Company depot at Royal Edward Dock when gas oil was being pumped into it from the tanker MV Fort Christina. Two men lost their lives, both of them workers at the oil depot Arthur Baggs and Roy Hyett.
Given the size of the eventual conflagration, though, it’s a miracle that these were the only deaths.
Fire engines from Bristol were soon on the scene, as well as Avonmouth’s special fireboat the Endres Gane.
At first, they just pumped water on the surrounding tanks to stop the fire spreading to them, but some of these exploded, forcing fire crews and dock workers to pull back. Bristol’s fire brigade was now requesting additional help, especially supplies of foam.
The later Bristol Fire Brigade report noted that “the grass and railway sleepers to the East side were burning fiercely, presenting a severe danger of spread to the Cleveland Petroleum Company’s compound”.
As reinforcements were being called for, the City Docks fireboat Pyronaut was travelling up the river and by 11.30pm was aiding Endres Gane in pumping water.
Despite the frantic efforts, and with fire crews from all over the region still arriving, a massive explosion in another tank at 4.35am forced firefighters back once more and destroyed hoses and equipment.
Many years later, Frederick Hooper, one of the local firemen on the scene, gave the Post a vivid description:
“There were firemen coming in from all over the country and they were bringing in foam on special trains,” he said.
“The heat was like being inside an oven while a roast dinner is cooking and a lot of the things you learn in training simply went out of the window.
“We had to get the fire out and we just didn’t have time for the normal safety precautions. There was a lot of fear that the oil would boil over.
“In a way it was like a huge pan of oil and there was a great fear it would all go up.”
At 10am on Friday, a concerted plan to contain the fires with a huge wall of foam was implemented, but it was midnight before anyone was confident that the conflagration was under control. Even then, some new fires still broke out.
Just before 5am on the Saturday morning the Chief Fire Officer on the scene finally reported that all fires were out.
In all, 60 appliances and 853 officers and men (and at least one woman) had attended the scene, with fire services from all over the region and as far afield as Middlesex and Monmouthshire sending help.
As well as these, members of the Army Fire Service came in as well as working parties from the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton and from Horfield Barracks, among many others. A specialist foam unit from the Royal Navy came from Portsmouth.
Also among the firefighters was 27-year-old Birmingham schoolteacher Jean Durn, who had joined the Auxiliary Fire Service during the War and who had re-joined afterwards. She was on holiday in Bristol when the fire broke out and volunteered her services. (We think she was probably a native Bristolian. Does anyone know?)
Six people were hospitalised with burns, fractures and smoke inhalation, though press reports from the time say that as many as 130 people were injured, presumably less seriously.
Two and a half million gallons of petrol, gas oil, benzol and aviation spirit were lost, with a value estimated at the time at £750,000 – the equivalent of hundreds of millions today.
The fire services would spend several more weeks on the scene, clearing up and ensuring the site was safe, while the Home Secretary James Chuter Ede visited to be briefed on what had happened. The actual cause of the first explosion was never definitively established.
And yet, it could have been so much worse. On the day of the tragedy, Bristol Fire Brigade was having its annual inspection, so almost the entire complement of firefighters just happened to be on duty and ready to be rushed to the scene. Some of them would work for 40 hours without a break.
» You can watch newsreel footage of the fire at www.britishpathe.com/video/oil-disaster-atavonmouth
» If you have any memories or family stories about the 1951 Avonmouth fire, please feel free to mail them to Bristol.times@b-nm.co.uk