"On the latter date"

Walker, G. G. The Ballantyne’s fire disaster, 1983. p.43-44.

On the latter date Mr Watson's opening address was devastating. He pointed out that employees, with several notable exceptions, had quite failed to appreciate their danger. He cited cases of some who had seen smoke, had become aware that there was fire, and had calmly continued to their comfortable afternoon tea venue before returning to their respective departments; and of others who, being warned to leave the premises by their respective foremen or forewomen had failed to do so for a considerable time, and in some cases had returned to their quarters to recover possessions rendered trivial by the developing circumstances. Some of the victims had been seen to be standing at windows, seemingly unaware of the horror that was even then besieging them.

He drew attention to and criticised the delay in calling the Fire Brigade, to the fact that the only fire escape was blocked so early by smoke, to the absence of alarm bells within the building and of any sprinkler system and of any co-ordinated evacuation methods. He then referred to many of those sequences of events which have already been described in this book.

One of the first witnesses was a Mr Keith Owen Smith who had been the only person in the cellar prior to the discovery of the fire. Because he had left the premises to visit a nearby shop for a talk and a smoke, he was questioned extensively. His interrogation included reference to the deception of his employer by his act and its purpose, and to the fact that he had ignored the arrival of the fire engines in order to prolong his social engagement. He was accused by legal counsel of leaving his cellar post unprotected. That he had left the cellar was certainly true, but Mr Smith had never been employed to protect the cellar. There is no doubt that if he had remained in the cellar the fire would have been discovered much earlier. He told the Commission that, although he was a smoker, he would never have smoked in the cellar because of the amount of combustible material which was stored in it, and further credibility is added to his statement by his action in leaving the cellar in order to smoke a cigarette.

Letters

This advertisement in the Press for the book by Gordan G. Walker prompted the following letters.

• 31 December, 1983, page 12
• 7 January, 1984, Page 12