Some incidents forever remain in the memory of those who lived to see or even just hear of it. The devastating fire in the former store known generally as Fowler's, more formally S. Fowler and Co., Drapery and Costumiers, on the night of 12 January 1991 was one such incident.
The nature of the fire, the lives in immediate danger, and the potential for the fire to spread along one of Ryde's oldest stretches of commercial thoroughfare, compelled a robust response from the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, as indicated in the transcript below, extracted from an original service handwritten watch log, with additional explanation added for reader information.
22:19 - 999 call received by Fire Control
22:20 - Send A4-1, A4-2, A1-B, to Fowlers, Union St., Ryde (Alpha 4-1 and 4-2 were Ryde's fire engines, A1-B was the Bronto from Newport).
22:21 - S1 informed (Senior Duty Officer)
22:21 - F5 Mobile (Duty Officer)
22:22 - A1-B mobile, crew of 2, Fireman Bartley OiC
22:26 - A4-1 mobile, crew of 6, Leading Fireman White OiC
22:26 - A4-1 in attendance
22:26 - A4-2 mobile, crew of 6, Sub Officer Boulter OiC
22:27 - A4-2 in attendance
22:27 - Assistance message received by FC from Incident Commander ' Make pumps four'
22:28 - FC - send A1-2 (Newport), A1-1 (Newport)
22:29 - A1-2 mobile, crew of 4, Sub Officer Ormonde OiC
22:30 - Informative message received by FC from Incident Commander 'Persons reported - on roof'
22:32 - A1-1 mobile, crew of 6, Sub Officer Squibb OiC
22:32 - F5 (Duty Officer) in attendance
22:32 - Assistance message received by FC from Incident Commander 'Make pumps six'
22:33 - FC - send A3-1 (East Cowes), A6-2 (Sandown)
22:34 - FC - Chief Fire Officer informed
22:36 - A3-1 mobile, crew of 6, Leading Fireman McGrath OiC
22:36 - S1 (Senior Duty Officer) in attendance
22:37 - A1-B in attendance
22:37 - A6-2 mobile, crew of 6, Station Officer Ballard OiC
22:37 - Assistance message received by FC from Incident Commander - 'Make pumps ten'
22:37 - FC - send A6-1 (Sandown), A5-1 (Bembridge), A2-1 (Cowes), A2-2 (Cowes)
22:38 - A1-2 in attendance
22:41 - A1-1 in attendance
22:41 - A5-1 mobile, crew of 6, Station Officer Jacobs OiC
22:43 - A2-1 mobile, crew of 6, Leading Fireman Ferguson OiC
22:43 - A2-2 mobile, crew of 6, Sub Officer King OiC
22:43 - FC - send A1-P, A1-E
22:44 - A1-E mobile, crew of 2, Sub Officer Sedgely OiC
22:45 - A6-1 mobile - crew of 6, Sub Officer Pidgeon OiC
22:37 - A6-2 mobile, crew of 6, Station Officer Ballard OiC
22:37 - Assistance message received by FC from Incident Commander - 'Make pumps ten'
22:37 - FC - send A6-1 (Sandown), A5-1 (Bembridge), A2-1 (Cowes), A2-2 (Cowes)
22:38 - A1-2 in attendance
22:41 - A1-1 in attendance
22:41 - A5-1 mobile, crew of 6, Station Officer Jacobs OiC
22:43 - A2-1 mobile, crew of 6, Leading Fireman Ferguson OiC
22:43 - A2-2 mobile, crew of 6, Sub Officer King OiC
22:43 - FC - send A1-P, A1-E 22:44 - A1-E mobile, crew of 2, Sub Officer Sedgely OiC
22:45 - A6-1 mobile - crew of 6, Sub Officer Pidgeon OiC
22:46 - A3-1 in attendance
22:47 - FC - send A1-F
22:47 - A1-P mobile, crew of 2, Fireman Knight OiC
22:48 - T2 mobile
22:48 - A1-F mobile, crew of 2, Leading Fireman Stotesbury OiC
22:51 - Informative message received by FC from Incident Commander 'Three floors well alight, Persons reported, 7 jets, 1 hose reel jet, 8 breathing apparatus, Bronto, in use'
22:52- A6-2 in attendance - T2 in attendance
22:55 - A6-1 in attendance
22:57 - A2-1 in attendance, A1-P in attendance, A1-F in attendance
22:59 - A2-2 in attendance, A1-E in attendance
22:59 - Assistance message by FC from Incident Commander 'Increase water supply - make water carriers two'
23:04 - FC - send A3-W (East Cowes, water carrier), A9-W (Freshwater, water carrier)
23:07 - Chief Fire Officer in attendance (CFO E.H. Wall)
23:07 - A9-W mobile, crew of 2, Fireman Whitewood OiC
23:09 - A5-1 in attendance
23:11 - FC - A9-W flat battery, duty mechanic required
23:18 - Informative message received by FC from Incident Commander 'Second, Third and Fourth floors involved, 40 x 30 metres, severly damaged, SGB required'
23:36 - A3-W mobile, crew of 2, Fireman Cook OiC
23:37 - Stage 1 requested 23:39 - FC - Send A1-L
23:39 - A1-L mobile, crew of 2, Fireman Rann OiC
23:50 - A3-W in attendance
23:56 - A1-L in attendance
As the incident bridged the change of date, the 13th arrived with concern that two persons were still on the roof of the rapidly deteriorating structure.
00:25 - Assistance message received by FC from Incident Commander 'Two ground monitors required'
00:26 - A1-P mobile from fire ground to service headquarters to collect ground monitors
00:27 - Informative message received by FC from Incident Commander 'Two persons rescued'
00:27 - FC despatch undeployed appliances to standby locations - A8-2 (Ventnor) and A9-1 (Freshwater) to Newport, A7-1 (Shanklin) to Ryde
00:54 - Assistance message received by FC from Incident Commander 'HP required'
01:00 - Assistance message received by FC from Incident Commander 'Duty mechanic required for A1-B'
01:10 - 'Unable to find keys for HP'
01:13 - Stop message received by FC from Incident Commander '14 jets, 20 breathing apparatus, 2 ground monitors, in use'
01:20 - HP not required
03:03 - A10-1 mobile as relief crew, crew of six, Station Officer Corbett OiC
03:40 - A7-1 mobile as relief crew, crew of six, Sub Officer Drewery OiC
03:51 - A8-2 mobile as relief crew, crew of six, Station Officer Burden OiC
07:52 - A1-2 mobile as relief crew, crew of four, Sub Officer Ormonde OiC
07:52 - A4-2 mobile as relief crew, crew of six, Leading Fireman Perkis OiC
21:41 - Incident closed
The aftermath
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