Fireman William Fraser died after falling from a ladder at a fire in Aberdeen on Tuesday, March 4th, 1909.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN ABERDEEN
FIREMAN KILLED
BOOKBINDER’S PREMISES GUTTED
DAMAGE £5000 TO 36000
A disastrous fire, involving the loss of a fireman’s life, and from £5000 to £6000 damage, occurred yesterday morning in the extensive premises in Adelphi court, Aberdeen, belonging to Mr William J. Middleton, wholesale paper boxmaker and calendar publisher.
The outbreak occurred about seven o’clock, and in three hours time the two upper storeys of the building were completely gutted, but the flames were confined entirely to that part of the building. About eight o’clock, while the fire brigade were strenuously combating the flames, one of their members, First Class Fireman William Fraser, met with a sad and sudden death as the result of being struck with a heavy piece of water rhone. The material, weighing over one cwt., became dislodged from the roof, and swept the unfortunate fireman from his position on the fire escape – on which he had been at work – to the ground, a distance of nearly 40 feet.
Extending to about fifty feet along the east side of Adelphi Court, the premises are five storeys in height, and about forty feet in depth, towards the rear of the Crown Mansions, the business premises of Messrs Black and Ferguson, wine merchants, and Messrs steel and company, wholesale hatters, being at each side of the block. The ground floor was occupied as packing rooms and offices, the second as the printing department, the third as the bookbinding department, the other two floors being set aside for boxmaking. It was in the fourth flat, where cardboard boxes are manufactured, that the fire originated, and soon the roof was in a blaze. The fireman James Gray, went to the works at six o’clock as usual, and had occasion to go upstairs to the fourth floor, where the gas engine is situated. He saw something smouldering beside the gas engine, and at once ran for one of the fire extinguishers that were kept on each floor. The attempt to put out the flames, however, was hopeless on account of the extremely inflammable nature of the material, and the postman, who happened to be delivering letters at the time, raised the alarm, and after being summoned, the fire brigade were soon on the spot. When the brigade arrived on the scene, the two top floors were well alight. Had the fire originated in the ground floor, the whole place would probably have been gutted. As it was the firemen worked strenuously to save at least a portion of the building, and this they were successful in accomplishing. Firemaster Inkster and Deputy Firemaster Pollock had all the available staff at work, and every line of hose was in requisition. A copious water supply was available from the hydrants and steamer in Union Street.
Shortly before eight o’clock the workers employed by Mr Middleton began to arrive in order to commence the day’s work. The staff includes a large number of girls and several of them became quite hysterical at the unexpected sight. They were soon pacified, however, and most of them returned home, while a few lingered about until the fire had been subdued. Large crowds of spectators watched the course of the fire with anxious interest from different points of vantage. All the windows in the neighbourhood of the burning building were utilised to view the flames, while large crowds assembled in Union Street at the entrance to Adelphi Court, and also in Market Street, at the end of Adelphi Lane. Chief Constable Anderson and a large staff of constables kept excellent order, and, notwithstanding the crowds which assembled in Union Street and market street, the regular traffic was uninterrupted, and the firemen were afforded every facility to carry on their work. When the brigade arrived shortly after seven o’clock, the magnitude of the outbreak was immediately grasped, the number of large business premises in the neighbourhood at once raising fears of a destructive conflagration. From the hydrants in both Union Street and Adelphi Court, an abundant flow of water was kept pouring on the flames, and the dense volumes of smoke created the greatest alarm in the neighbourhood. At the start of the brigade’s operations, the firemen were somewhat handicapped by the hydrants being covered by about an inch of freshly fallen snow, but the delay was trifling, and the object of the brigade in confining the fire within the compass of the two floors in Mr Middleton’s works was fortunately accomplished . The firemen fought bravely
MORE TO BE TYPED
THE FATAL FIRE IN ABERDEEN
The official estimate of the damage done by the fire in the premises of Mr. W. J. Middleton, Adelphi, on Tuesday, is given at £5,500 - £4000 to stock and £1500 to the building. The scene of the fire has been visited by thousands of people from all parts of the city. Mr. Middleton has secured a temporary office at 14 Adelphi.
THE FUNERAL OF THE FIREMAN
A meeting of the Lighting and
Fires Committee of the Town Council was held yesterday – Councillor Dunn,
convener, presiding. The committee had under consideration the arrangements for
the funeral of Fireman Fraser, who was killed at the fire in Adelphi.
The funeral will take place from the Central Fire Station to Trinity Cemetery at
2-30 tomorrow afternoon. The following will be the order of the procession:-
Police Band; body of policemen; fire escape carriage, with remains, drawn by
four horses, with pall bearers; chief mourners; firemen in uniform; body of
policemen; members of Lighting and Fires Committee, all other mourners.
(The Aberdeen Daily Journal, Thursday, March 4, 1909. Page 4.)
Death
FRASER – At Aberdeen, the
result of an accident, on 2nd inst., William A. Fraser, aged 28
years, member of Aberdeen City Fire Brigade – much loved and deeply regretted.
American Papers please copy. Funeral from house St Clair Street, on Friday, 5th
inst., at 2-30 p.m. Short service will be held in the House and Fire Station
simultaneously at 2-10 p.m. sharp. This the only intimation and invitation.
(The Aberdeen daily Journal, Thursday, March 4, 1909. page 4.)
FRASER – at Aberdeen, the result of an accident William Fraser (Aberdeen City Fire brigade), aged 28 years, beloved husband of Maggie Moir,