ARGENT STREET BLAZE
6-HOUR BLAZE DESTROYS CITY CENTRE
Argent Street Fire --1888--The commercial life of the township of Broken Hill suffered a setback when on November 5, 1888, the whole of the western side of Argent Street, stretching from Chloride to Oxide Streets, was completely burnt out within the short space of six hours.
Smoke was seen rising from the hairdressing and tobacconists shop of I. Morris, forming part of the Royal Chambers, situated on the present site of Pellew & Moore Pty Limited. The alarm was given but, fanned by a firm southeasterly breeze, the flames leaped unchecked from one building to the next. Most of the premises were of flimsy construction, consisting chiefly of timber and iron, lined with tinder-dry matchboard and papered hession. The one hope to block the spread of the fire was Jack Elliot's Denver City Hotel but, although the two-storeyed building was of solid construction, the heat soon burst the windows, allowing the rooms to become enveloped in smoke and fire.
Firemen, after obtaining permission from the owners, pulled down a number of small structures in order to prevent a further spread. Under the control of Lieutenant Berry, they feverishly worked the manually operated water pump attached to the fire-fighting unit.
Water carts arrived to replenish the fire brigade's tank, but the single pumping unit proved totally inadequate. At the entrance to the Exchange Buildings was the office of the Union Bank. When the flames had passed over it, only the iron safe, housing money, and documents stood among the charred wreckage. Above the township rose an awe-inspiring pall of smoke, as the fire defied the efforts of the Broken Hill Volunteer Fire Brigade to quench it. The Silver Age reported: on swept the avalanche of flames, devouring structure after structure with the greed of an insatiable maw.
Shopkeepers on the opposite side of the street soaked blankets in water and hung them across the front of their shops and dwellings. One person perched himself on a verandah awning with an axe and hacked off pieces of burning timber, which he proceeded to throw among the heaps of merchandise on the street. In the upstairs bar of the Denver City Hotel another citizen endeavoured to save all the beer glasses by pitching them down onto the road. It is also alleged that, with a view to salvaging the bar piano a group of inebriates pushed it off the first floor balcony, whence it landed in a jangling broken mass.
By midnight the whole western side of Argent Street was a smouldering blackened ruin after the fire had burnt itself out. An inquest into the cause of the fire was opened on November 7,1888, and the following verdict was recorded: We find that the late fire which occurred on the afternoon of the 5th instant on section 36, Broken Hill, originated in the offices adjoining Royal Chambers but how the fire originated, whether accidentally or otherwise, the evidence adduced does not enable us to say; but would call attention to the very dangerous practice of lighting fires outside. Total damage was estimated at £70,000
MAJOR LANDMARKS HAVE GONE TO BLAZES.
September 5, 1887: An early hotel to fall to flames was the Duke of Cornwall. Two men died. It was destroyed by fire.
January 1892: There was a big fire in Oxide Street. It started in premises at the rear of Chapman's Boarding House on the corner of Crystal Lane. In a few minutes the fire spread through the Lion timber-yard to the Argent Street frontage. Waugh's printing office was destroyed and Sayer's Crown Hotel was saved by wet blankets over the eaves but suffered considerable damage from helpful people moving furniture out and looting the bar.
February 1892: A fire destroyed all the buildings on the corner of Argent and Oxide Streets, from Elliot's Denver City Hotel in Argent Street to the corner and along Oxide Street to Gawler Place. Thirteen shops were destroyed, most of iron, matchboard and hessian. September 1892: Fire at Round Hill. The alarm was given by mine whistles at 5.40 am. The Round Hill Hotel was a wood and iron building of 13 rooms. The fire appeared to have started in the cellar under the bar.
January 11, 1894: Fire destroyed the Theatre Royal which was gutted. Mr P. McMahon was licensee.
February 6, 1894: The township's first hotel the Bonanza, for which the original Licence was granted to William Delamore in October 1885, was destroyed by fire.
July 30,1919: A mysterious fire broke out in the South Mill, resulting in the destruction of the surface building and the main shaft headframe. The damage estimated at 100,000
November 29,1960: Crystal Theatre (was situated where the Crystal Motel now stands) was destroyed by fire (built in 1898).
December 24, 1961: Ozone Theatre was destroyed by fire. Ozone Theatre was situated where the Broken Hill Entertainment Centre now stands. December 29, 1964: Century Theatre was destroyed by fire. On that site the Silver City Cinema now stands. The original Theatre was known as Johnsons (built around about 1914). In the early days of Broken Hill fire was a local scourge, and there were many disasters from this source. It has been only in recent years that the toll from fires has waned.
