Laburnum Terrace

The Fire

The building that was attached to Laburnum House became a tyre warehouse owned by the United Tyre Company.

Around 1am on September 29th 1992, the warehouse was broken into  by two men who deliberately punctured fuel storage tanks on the site to release the diesel and start a fire.  The police and fire brigade were soon called and the police knocked on the doors of the houses in St John Street and the top part of the Gloucester Road.  Residents were evacuated to the Royal George public house and Quaker Court sheltered housing complex.  It took two hours to make the area safe enough for the residents to return to their homes.

The fire was spectacular and flames could be clearly seen above the roofs of the houses in St John Street.  The intense heat caused tyres to explode and the noise, together with the noise of the fire engines which attended the scene roused people as far away as Alveston.  The Doig family, only yards away, slept oblivious to everything until they got up and looked outside when they became suspicious as a result of the smell of burning rubber!

 The tyre warehouse was never re-opened.  The buildings were eventually demolished and the site cleared for the houses now located in Sawmill Lane.  We have shown here a few of the photographs taken at the time of the fire.  Click on the photograph to see it in a larger version.  The first shows the fire engine next to number 6 Gloucester Road.  The second shows the extent of destruction as seen from Sawmill Lane near the old telephone exchange.  The third shows the firemen in St John Street outside Adrian's hairdresser shop and Rowe's the vet.  The last shows redevelopment beginning and shows the backs of houses in St John Street.

This page was last updated: 22/12/2006