Gunnedah’s most disastrous fires: part one

Fire was a recurring hazard in small country towns in the late 19th century, when virtually every structure was made of timber, there was no reticulated water supply or supply source and fire-fighting equipment was virtually non-existent.

The first major fire in Gunnedah occurred in April 1888, originating at night in a large wooden building in Conadilly Street which had been used as the Salvation Army barracks.

The fire quickly consumed seven buildings, including the barracks, Mugivan and McClelland’s Bakery, the two-storey dwelling of James Pullen, the office of the Gunnedah Advertiser, Thomas Stewart’s store and two other private dwellings, along with outhouses.

The Freeman’s Journal, of April 28, 1888, reported that “had it not been for Walter Douglas, James Bowen and the police, assisted by a large contingent of others, the fire would have destroyed the whole of the Conadilly Street frontage between Chandos and Marquis Streets.”

Simmonds’ Freemasons Hotel across the road was also threatened – wet blankets were hung over the side of the hotel to prevent it catching fire.

The 1888 fire underlined the need for a trained and equipped brigade for the town but it was several years before firm steps were taken by the Gunnedah Municipal Council.

Alderman Arthur Jarmain started the ball rolling at the council meeting on July 10, 1893, telling fellow councillors that ‘it was high time council took some steps towards organising a fire brigade’.

Although Ald Jarmain’s comments struck a chord around the council table, and following information obtained from neighbouring municipalities, a report was adopted almost two years later recommending the establishment of a brigade and engine at a cost of 175 pounds.

On May 12, 1902, then mayor Henry Thomas Pike, was authorised to go to Sydney and inspect the engine subject to council providing a suitable shed.

Ald Pike returned home to say that he had purchased the engine and had arranged to have it painted and called The Lady Mayoress. It was a belt-driven, petrol engine with a turbine pump and it was erected on a four-wheeled lorry with a square canvas tank in a wooden frame on the back. The tank held around 100 gallons of water and was always kept filled, ready for an emergency. It was housed in a shed at the back of the Town Hall.

Henry Pike was one of the town’s great pioneering Mayors and was positively associated with three main advances in Gunnedah at the turn of the century – a permanent fire brigade, a reticulated water supply and an electricity supply provided under franchise by Henry Pike and his sons.

In August 1902, a shed was constructed for the fire engine and Alderman Alf Moffat was appointed the first captain with 10 recruits.

On February 2, 1903, EM Pike was appointed the second captain but resigned 12 months later. Over the next few years, the brigade had varying fortunes and by 1908 was almost non-operational.

When the Board of the Fire Commissioners was established that year and the Fire Brigades Act passed, the local volunteers’ fire brigade was formed on permanent lines and under the direction of Captain Frank Hamilton, it took on a new lease of life with a manual engine and 600 feet of hose and minor equipment.

The limiting factor to a properly equipped brigade, even by the standards of the 1890s, was one of finance as well as the lack of reticulated water.

The authoritative magazine of the NSW Fire Service, Fire News, was not overly impressed with the quality of the initial fire station, located behind the site of the Town Hall in Chandos street, describing it as only large enough to accommodate a small four-and-a-half-inch manual pumper.

In 1915 land adjacent to the Town Hall in Chandos Street was finally acquired and a new station was built that year. A horse-driven turbine engine was installed and the brigade was connected to the telephone.

This was the horse-drawn hose reel which was used to fight fires more than a century ago. The photograph was taken before 1902 when Mayor Henry Pike was able to acquire the first motorised engine for Gunnedah.

Street alarms were fixed at the corners of Barber and Marquis, Chandos and Conadilly and Conadilly and Rosemary streets but they had to be removed from service in 1923 because of the attention of vandals. Several local firemen were employed at the local electricity powerhouse, however, working various shifts, and the fire station telephone line was set in tandem with the power station, so that whenever the alarm was raised, the power house’s piercing whistle sounded to summon firemen.

Following a whistle alarm in 1916, the brigade fought a serious fire at Brunton’s Flour Mill and although a considerable amount of produce and plant was lost, most of the complex was saved, underlining the value of the town’s fire service.

The most disastrous fire in Gunnedah’s history occurred in 1925, when most of the northern side of the central business district was destroyed. The fire, which broke out at night, was one of the worst experienced in any country town, sweeping through the timber buildings with great ferocity, fanned by fierce winds, which also turned the blaze onto cottages behind them and deposited burning debris up to half a mile away.

The whistle alarm sounded at 4am but there was no hope of saving the wooden buildings between the Union Bank and the brick building erected by Mr C. Woodhead down towards the Town Hall. The fire destroyed Aroney’s Cafe, WE Cantrell’s machinery depot, a boot repair shop, the Detheridges’ tailoring and millinery shops, the EW Westerweller business and a shop owned by Mrs WC Weakley, and severely damaged the Woodhead business. The heat was so intense the premises occupied by Holmes the chemist and the store of HR Douglas were badly singed and the windows cracked. Furniture in the Union Bank, a brick structure, was also damaged.

The Gunnedah Fire Brigade members won widespread praise for their magnificent effort in containing the blaze.

Another spectacular fire in November 1930 started in a bootmaker’s shop in Conadilly Street and quickly spread to WG (Bill) Palmer’s Furniture and Saddlery next door, destroying the stock and all the new furniture that Bill Palmer had acquired for expansion of his business.

The whistle warning system from the powerhouse survived until 1938 when the fire station was equipped with a siren to operate in conjunction with the volunteer captain firemen’s house bells.

Frank Hamilton was followed in 1910 by Bill Pike who was captain until 1938, playing a tremendous role in the service which his father had initiated as mayor.

The volunteer firemen comprised Frank Hamilton, M. Wilson (engine keeper), R. Sheehy, J. Marsden, J. Reading and J. Hamilton.

In 1929 the first motorised appliance was installed in the station – a No 84 Dennis Tanini and the captain was still Bill Pike, ably assisted by engine keeper Jim Schutz and firemen J. Marsden, J. Hamilton, R. Ewing, C. Apthorpe, E. Outteridge, H. Kirkpatrick, H. Apthorpe and A. Kelly

Following the retirement of Captain Pike in 1938, the brigade was headed by the council health inspector, Joe Taylor, and then by captains Albert Kelly, Les Schutz, Vic Warner, Bob Clayton, Harold

Hazeltine, Ken Hartley, John Pickett, Bernie Etheridge and Rod Byrnes. Vic Warner was in charge for 12 years until 1961 and was followed by Bob Clayton, who held the position until 1970 when he retired after 40 years’ service to the brigade.

The disastrous 1955 flood finally exposed the deficiencies of the fire station built in 1915 and convinced authorities to seek another site for the fire station, with the old building suffering structural damage. A new fire station was opened in Barber Street, out of flood reach, in 1962.

Another memorable blaze occurred in a two-storeyed rooming house on the corner of Tempest and Barber Streets one Sunday morning in 1951. The former Paragon Hotel was affectionately known as the Old Bug House and went up in flames when a methylated spirits cooker caught onto a curtain and set it alight.

Although the brigade was quickly on the scene, the fire swept through the 80-year-old cypress pine building in 20 minutes and all the brigade could do was ensure it did not spread to nearby buildings.