ELLENROAD FIRE 1916.

[Stanley]

ELLENROAD FIRE 1916.

WITH such a lot of industry in and around the town it was inevitable that Rochdale would have its fair share of mill blazes as it developed its industrial might.
One fire at J Kershaw and Sons’ Judy Mill on the Mount in November 1866 caused £20,000 worth of damage and resulted in the death of a pensioner when a wall fell on a cottage.
There was £30,000 worth of damage to Stott and Pilling’s Shapper’s Mill on Cheetham Street in May 1870.
Two years later four women were killed when Frankfort Mill in Littleborough went up in smoke while Superintendent Tipping of Whitworth fire brigade lost his life in a fire at Haigh’s Broadley Mill in 1873.
In the region of £30,000 of damage was caused to Sutcliffe’s corn mill in 1882, Wasp Mills, Wardle in 1890 and the Eagle Spinning Company’s Balderstone mill in 1915.
Topping that was the £40,000 1881 fire at Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway goods warehouse on Milnrow Road.
But all these were dwarfed on Wednesday 19 January 1916 by the blaze which destroyed Ellenroad Mill at Newhey.
Damage estimated at £150,000 made it the most disastrous fire on record to date.
What was one of the biggest mills of its kind was reduced to a huge pile of rubble with only several outer walls and the chimney left still standing.
It was soon after 2.30pm in the second spinning room on the third floor that flames began to shoot from the headstock of a pair of mules.
Virtually in an instant the fire had shot down the length of the room and as most of the operatives swiftly left the building others, led by manager Mr J Batten, began to fight the flames.
With the firm’s own fire brigade swinging into action and the sprinklers being activated, the seat of the blaze was attacked at once.
At about 2.55pm a Rochdale Fire Brigade appliance arrived to join the battle, drawing water from the brook running near the mill.
They struggled to confine the flames to the spinning room, especially as a strong cross-wind was preventing the full flow of water reaching them.
Fire brigade reinforcements arrived from Rochdale and Oldham, though the latter were delayed as they had to get permission to leave the borough.
While they engaged the flames from the Ladyhouse side of the building the mill’s own firemen were on the fourth floor trying to prevent them rising any higher.
By 5.30pm, after a considerable struggle, the fire looked to have been extinguished, having been confined to the room in which it had started.
The fire crews stopped the pumps and began to roll up the hoses, ready to reload on the engines.
Many gathered on the south side of the mill and enjoyed a mug of hot coffee while the majority of the workers, who had been watching the blaze since being evacuated, began to drift towards home.
The company’s insurance assessors had by this time arrived and began to inspect the damage to the premises.
At about 6.35pm the Oldham motor pump was ready to return to its station, but was found to be almost axle deep in the soft earth.
Chief Inspector Penketh and several other firemen went into the mill to find a tow rope – and found the third floor was alight again.
This time there was a delay in operating the sprinklers, which proved disastrous.
Before the fire crews could reactivate their pumps the flames, propelled by high winds, had rocketed from one end of the mill to the other.
Within half an hour the top three stories on the west side of the mill were an inferno with the fire crews powerless to prevent it spreading.
On the east side of the building mill staff were desperately gathering the firm’s books from the offices, though they could not open the safe because they didn’t have the key.
The brigade of John Bright and Brothers Ltd’s Fieldhouse Mill arrived to help but as the crowds began to gather in earnest again it became clear it was a losing battle.
At its height the blaze covered an acre and a half with flames reaching 60 feet into the air.
Around 8pm the mill began to collapse, the thunder of heavy machinery falling being heard as the floors gave way.
With the interior now destroyed, the fire turned its attention to the main structure.
The engine house roof fell in then, soon after 10pm, two portions of the mill’s main front wall collapsed in spectacular fashion, followed swiftly by the north end wall and the destruction was almost complete.
Although fire crews did manage to save the company offices the mill had been destroyed.
By Thursday morning the firefighting operation was done but some stayed behind to damp down the last embers of the mammoth blaze.
It proved to be a long job, even on the Friday there were still flames and clouds of dense smoke coming from the debris


First published by the Rochdale Observer