A Torpedo Through the Crowd: Coolgardie’s Deadliest Fire Disaster

DISTRESSING SCENES – The most distressing tragedy ever known in Coolgardie occurred in the early hours of this morning, as the outcome of a destructive fire at Messrs Mulligan and Kemp’s butcher’s shop, in Bayley Street, Coolgardie. The alarm was received at the fire station about 3.30 a.m., and the Coolgardie fire station called out the full strength of the local brigade. With hose and reel, they sped to the butcher shop in Bayley Street occupied by Messrs. Mulligan and Kemp. Efforts were made to control the flames which had secured a strong hold of the building, but were without success.

Tongues of flame licked distant parts of the building until it was seen that the brigade could do little. The brigade was handicapped because of the fact that the water supply was inadequate and the pressure so low that only one hose could be played on to the conflagration. The alarm of ‘Fire!’ quickly spread through the mining town, and despite the early hour, figures, most of whom were only partly dressed, were seen approaching towards the burning building, which caused a lurid glare for several hundred yards around.

Soon a large gathering of townspeople had congregated in the street opposite the burning shop, both sexes being represented. Without any warning, the sound of a loud explosion rent the air, and simultaneously a heavy iron cylinder filled with ammonia and used in connection with the refrigerating process attached to the shop shot towards the spectators at the speed of a torpedo. The flying missile, which was six feet long with a diameter of 12 inches, first struck and killed a dog, but fortunately missed its owner, Mr D. MacPherson, who was standing alongside. A little further off, Mr George Sheedy was standing by Mr Tim Griffin. The cylinder shot towards the former in its erratic flight, and struck him in the thigh, the upper portion of his leg being badly fractured.

Two new arrivals from England, Mr and Mrs Wheeler, were also struck and badly injured. Mrs Wheeler had her legs virtually torn off and died on the way to the Kalgoorlie Hospital. Mr Joe Purday, who together with his family is widely known because of their interest in local affairs, had both legs torn off just below the knees. Later in the day, one of the firemen, T. Lillis, was admitted to the hospital suffering from severe shaking resulting from a fall from the roof of the building. His condition was not serious. Mr Sheedy was struck on the shin by a flying piece of brick or cement, while other spectators received slight scratches and abrasions. Several firemen suffered shock as a result of the explosion, and also received minor injuries.

Great praise has been bestowed by the spectators upon the way the young men who comprise the fire service worked. When the first shock of the terrible disaster was overcome, help was sent for and speedily arrived. Matron Pritchard, who is in charge of the Government Hospital, was quickly on the scene and was assisted by many volunteers, among whom was Mr Harry Wakefield, whose service in the field had taught him First Aid treatment. Tourniquets were applied to the shattered limbs, and bleeding was arrested. Matron Pritchard, although steeled to the usual hospital operation, was so overcome with the shocking nature of the injuries that as soon as her task was completed she collapsed and had to be cared for for a little while. Very bravely, however, she refused to leave the work of giving relief to the sufferers and went round, attending each unfortunate victim. Brandy was administered, but in the case of Mrs Wheeler, it was seen that the case was hopeless. Her husband, who had had one leg blown off, was receiving attention and made eager inquiries concerning his wife.

Dr Matthews, of Kalgoorlie. was telephoned for soon after the disaster, and motored down with all haste. He inspected the work that had been done by the Matron and ordered the victims to be removed to the Kalgoorlie hospital. Mr Seagram’s motor truck was commissioned, and the unfortunate sufferers were taken to hospital. It has been ascertained that after the cylinder swept through the crowd watching the fire, it struck the footpath on the opposite side of the road to the butcher’s shop, tore through a galvanised iron fence, worked its way across a heap of loose bricks and then travelled end over end until it finally came to rest nearly 150 yards from where it had been placed in the shop.

Mr Sheedy was struck on the shin by a flying piece of brick or cement. Mr A. Wheeler, who had his leg shattered, had just joined the pipeline staff of the Goldfields Water Supply Department. On the Saturday night preceding the disaster, he paid a visit to Kalgoorlie, where he was introduced at an ‘At Home’ given by the South African and Imperial Veterans Association in the local Soldiers’ Institute. The other two men who were injured were well known throughout the Coolgardie fields, one earning the sobriquet of  ‘Lucky Joe’.

No cause has been ascribed to the fire. The books of the shop appear to have been saved from the strongroom. The owners of the shop cannot account for the outbreak and have been seriously affected by the tragedy. On Sunday Mr Joe Purdy and Mr Wheeler succumbed to their injuries. Mr Mulligan, one of the partners in the butcher’s shop, is so grief-stricken that he is seriously ill, and is causing his friends and family some concern.

FIRE CHIEF VISITS SCENE – The Chief Superintendent of Fire Brigades, Mr Lambourne, visited the scene of the disaster, motoring out from Kalgoorlie and took notes concerning the fire, the inadequacy of the water, and details concerning the explosion.

Geraldton Guardian 28 February 1925

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