Henderson's fire.

[wsteve55]

It's the 50th anniversery, of the fire at Henderson's department store,Church st.when 11 people died! There were some interesting stories,and film,on local news programmes tonight, and though I dont remember it myself,(too young) I wondered if any older Yo'ers had any memories of this? Apparently, the fire was tackled by shop staff for some time,before anyone thought to phone the fire brigade,and they also never tried to evacuate the shop,which probably contributed to the death toll!

[Davec]

Some footage of the day after here Steve;



http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=65466

[ItsaZappathing]

Some footage of the day after here ....;



http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=65466

Ta for that. Nice one

[Waterways]

See the uniforms and vehicles the firemen had? Still mainly WW2. A modern Dennis was there though. The place was demolished and rebuilt. It was a nice building. I think the fire changed the fire regs in public buildings. Was there also afire in Marks & Sparks in Liverpool about 20-25 years ago?

The crowds are just staring and in such a large group. I doubt you would get so much of that today. We would have a film crew with the firemen live.

[Debra]

Thanks for posting this Steve , and thanks for the amazing footage Dave .. I can't believe the damage to the building , all the RSJ's have fallen , it looks like a huge bomb had ripped through the place !

WW , was anyone hurt in the Marks and Spencer fire ? I don't remember it .

[Ged]

It was an interesting programme, called 'Inside Out' in case anyone can catch it again. They reunited a fireman with a chap he helped rescue.

[Debra]

Is Hendersons buildings where Next used to be ?

[wsteve55]

Is Hendersons buildings where Next used to be ?

It's where H&M is now.

[Ged]

I think so and I think Binns were once in there too, the last building on the corner before is it Tarleton St or Basnett st.

[lindylou]

I think so and I think Binns were once in there too, the last building on the corner before is it Tarleton St or Basnett st.

I used to like the Binns food hall.

[Davec]

It was on the corner of Williamson Street.

[Debra]

I know where it was now , i was picturing it being Hepworth Chambers..

[iansmith56]

As you walked down Church Street, towards Paradise Street, Hendersons was on the right hand side, between Paradise Street and the alley way called Williamson Street.

I started work there in 1974/5 when I was about 18 years old. Some of the staff who I worked with had been there when the fire happened. It was quite eerie listening to them describe it, and then a few minutes later I would go back in to the building, up to one of the upper floors and carry on working with those visions in my mind.

Hendersons was always catering for the top end of the market in those days, even when I was there, and for the first year or so, of my time there, we even had a doorman who would open the car doors for customers and then usher them into the ground floor of the store and then usher them out, hold their car doors open and say goodbye when they left.

It was owned by the House of Fraser and was later renamed Binns.

I loved working there :-)

[Davec]

The 'stills' feature on that link will give you a better idea of exactly where it was.

The 'stills' can be found under the newsreel screen on the left. There are 4 pages in total.

[burkhilly]

My mother remembers the fire clearly, and worked for Hendersons in the 70s. Wasn't there another fire in Hendersons or Binns or whatever it was called after the really serious fire?