Thirty Years On: The Kings Cross Underground Fire 18th Nov 1987

[John Webb]

Inspired by Busaholic's recent thread on the Hither Green crash 50 years ago, I though it would be appropriate to mention this incident, particularly as Channel 5 are showing a documentary about it at 9pm on Thursday 16th November.

 

[Pete_uk]

Lots of lessons tragically learned. Some of which is 'common sense' today.

 

[Busaholic]

Lots of lessons tragically learned. Some of which is 'common sense' today.

The lessons were certainly learned the hard way. The state of the Underground (more specifically the tube lines) then truly was a disgrace, with both management and unions at fault in a big way. Sadly, one of the bodies has never been identified despite numerous appeals and DNA advances.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Sadly, one of the bodies has never been identified despite numerous appeals and DNA advances.

He was in fact identified back in 2004:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3415473.stm

The final victim of the King's Cross fire has been officially identified by police, more than 16 years after the blaze that killed 31 people.

Ever since the fire at the London Underground station, on November 18, 1987, there had been a mystery over the identity of one victim.

But police have now confirmed he was Alexander Fallon, from Falkirk, a 72-year-old who was living rough in London at the time.

His family suggested the remains could be his and forensic tests confirmed it.

 

[Busaholic]

He was in fact identified back in 2004:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3415473.stm

I hadn't realised that. A recent newspaper article also hadn't realised it, so I shall pass the buck

 

[DarloRich]

Terrible - I remember seeing the pictures on the evening news. 31 people died and over 100 injured. The Inquiry report (Desmond Fennell QC) is worth reading if you can stomach it. A posthumous George Medal was awarded to station officer Colin Townsley for his actions during the fire.

 

[John Webb]

...... The Inquiry report (Desmond Fennell QC) is worth reading if you can stomach it.......

I picked up a copy of this report from, rather curiously, the "Old Fire Station Bookshop" in Helmsley, N Yorkshire, in 2007. With a number of diagrams, 21 photos and 247 pages of text it is some read. I knew a few of the people involved in the investigation and subsequent research and mentioned in chapter 12, so I shall be watching the programme on Thursday with considerable interest.

 

[DarloRich]

I picked up a copy of this report from, rather curiously, the "Old Fire Station Bookshop" in Helmsley, N Yorkshire, in 2007. With a number of diagrams, 21 photos and 247 pages of text it is some read. I knew a few of the people involved in the investigation and subsequent research and mentioned in chapter 12, so I shall be watching the programme on Thursday with considerable interest.

They discovered a new phenomenon in fire modeling: Trench effect.

 

[John Webb]

They discovered a new phenomenon in fire modeling: Trench effect.

Perhaps more accurate to say that fire (computer) modelling showed a new phenomenon, the 'Trench Effect'. This was followed up by one-tenth and one-third scale (physical) models which confirmed the computer findings. Larger-scale fire tests since those carried out for the enquiry have continued to show this phenomenon, some at the Fire Research Station when I was still working there, although the HSE's labs near Buxton did the enquiry tests.

 

[ainsworth74]

The Inquiry report (Desmond Fennell QC) is worth reading if you can stomach it.

The Railway Archive have a pdf copy on their website available here.

 

[John Webb]

The programme on Thursday evening naturally concentrated on the 'Human Interest' stories and I much admire those who had experienced the fire either as victims or as their rescuers who were willing to speak about their experiences in front of the camera. It covered some of the subsequent investigation including both the Harwell computer modelling and HSE's one-third scale physical model. It concluded with the way in which the unknown victim had been eventually identified.
The surprising omission (for me) was no mention of the manually-operated spray system that the escalators were fitted with and which no one got round to activating, but that may have been too technical perhaps?
There were a few minor inaccuracies and a degree of repetition of news video extracts taken in Euston Road during the fire, but otherwise quite a well-presented programme, although no one in it that I knew on the investigative side.

 

[John Webb]

There is a service being held at the station this morning to mark the thirty year anniversary of the fire and to commemorate the victims, according to news broadcasts.

 

[90sWereBetter]

A service took place at King's Cross earlier this morning marking 30 years since the tragic events of 18th November 1987. 31 people including a firefighter lost their lives.

I have a personal connection to this disaster, as my grandad used to work in Farringdon. On the evening, he was 5 minutes late shutting the office down, and he was walking along King's Cross Road when it happened. Had he left work on time he'd have most likely been in the ticket hall when the flashover occurred.

Seconds From Disaster did a great documentary covering the fire about a decade ago.