A public inquiry was conducted from February to June 1988. Investigators reproduced the fire twice, once to determine whether grease under the escalator was ignitable, and the other to determine whether a computer simulation of the fire—which would have determined the cause of the flashover—was accurate. The inquiry determined that the fire had been started by a lit match being dropped onto the escalator. The fire seemed minor until it suddenly increased in intensity, and shot a violent, prolonged tongue of fire, and billowing smoke, up into the ticket hall. This sudden transition in intensity, and the spout of fire, was due to the previously unknown trench effect, discovered by the computer simulation of the fire, and confirmed in two tests on scale models.
London Underground was strongly criticised for its attitude toward fires; staff were complacent because there had never been a fatal fire on the system, and had been given little or no training to deal with fires or evacuation. The report on the inquiry resulted in resignations of senior management in both London Underground and London Regional Transport and led to the introduction of new fire safety regulations. Wooden escalators were gradually replaced with metal escalators on the Underground.
At approximately 19:30,[1] several passengers reported seeing a fire on a Piccadilly line escalator. Officers of the British Transport Police (BTP) and station staff went to investigate and on confirming the fire one of the policemen went to the surface to radio for the London Fire Brigade (LFB),[4] which sent four fire appliances and a turntable ladder at 19:36.[5] The fire was beneath the escalator and was impossible to reach by use of a fire extinguisher. There was water fog equipment, but staff had not been trained in its use.[6] At 19:39, BTP officers made the decision to evacuate the station using the Victoria line escalators.[7] The LFB arrived a few minutes later, and several firemen went down to the escalator to assess the fire. They saw a fire about the size of a large cardboard box, and planned to fight it with a water jet and men with breathing apparatus.[8]
At 19:42, the entire escalator was aflame, producing superheated gas that rose to the top of the shaft enclosing the escalator, where it was trapped against the tunnel ceiling, which was covered with about twenty layers of old paint from past repainting. As the superheated gases pooled along the ceiling of the escalator shaft, the layers of paint began absorbing the heat. A few years before the fire, the Underground's director of operations had warned that the accumulated paint might pose a fire hazard. However, painting protocols were not in his purview, and his suggestion was widely ignored by his colleagues.[9]
At 19:45, there was a flashover and a jet of flames shot up the escalator shaft, filling the ticket hall with intense heat and thick black smoke,[10] killing or seriously injuring most of the people still in the ticket hall.[11] This trapped below ground several hundred people, who escaped on Victoria line trains.[12] A police constable, Richard Kukielka, found a seriously injured man and tried to evacuate him via the Midland City platforms, but found the way blocked by a locked Bostwick gate[lower-alpha 2] until it was unlocked by a passing cleaner.[13] Staff and a policewoman trapped on a Metropolitan line platform were rescued by a train.[12]
At 22:00, the full horror of the fire blaze was evident, after the death toll jumped to 28. David Fitzsimons, a Metropolitan Police superintendent, told reporters: "We are talking about a major tragedy; many people are horribly burned."[14]
Thirty fire crews—over 150 firefighters—were deployed.[15] Fourteen London Ambulance Service ambulances ferried the injured to local hospitals, including University College Hospital.[16] The fire was declared out at 01:46 the following morning.[17] On a television program about the fire, an official described King's Cross underground station's layout as "an efficient furnace".[18]
Victims
Thirty-one people died in the fire and 100 people were taken to hospital,[19] 19 with serious injuries.[20]
LFB Station Officer Colin Townsley was in charge of the first pump fire engine to arrive at the scene, and was in the ticket hall at the time of the flashover. He was killed in the fire; his body was found beside that of a badly burnt passenger at the base of the exit steps to Pancras Road. It is believed that Townsley spotted the passenger in difficulty and stopped to help her.[21] An initially unidentified man, commonly known as "Michael" or "Body 115" after its mortuary tag, was identified on 22 January 2004, when forensic evidence confirmed he was 73-year-old Alexander Fallon of Falkirk, Scotland.[22][23]
Aftermath
The ticket hall and platforms for the Metropolitan and Circle lines were undamaged and reopened next morning; the Victoria line, its escalators only slightly damaged, resumed normal operation on the following Tuesday. The ticket hall for the three tube lines was reopened in stages over four weeks.[20] The three escalators for the Piccadilly line had to be completely replaced, the new ones being commissioned on 27 February 1989, more than 16months after the fire. Until then, the Piccadilly line could only be reached via the Victoria line or Midland City platforms, and at peak hours in one direction only.[24]
Access to the Northern line platforms was indirect, its escalators connecting with the Piccadilly line. As the traffic from all three tube lines would have overcrowded the Victoria line escalators, Northern line trains did not stop at King's Cross until repairs were complete. The nearly-life-expired Northern line escalators were replaced as well; the Northern line station reopened, completing the return to normal operation, on 5 March 1989.[25]
The now-decommissioned wooden escalator at Greenford station (seen in 2006), similar to the one that caught fire at King's Cross
Smoking on Underground trains was banned in July 1984, over three years before the fire. Following a fire at Oxford Circus station in November 1984, the ban was extended to all Underground stations in February 1985. However, smokers often ignored this and lit cigarettes on the escalators on their way out.[28] The inquiry found that the fire was most probably caused by a traveller discarding a burning match that fell down the side of the moving staircase on to the running track of the escalator.[29] The police decided that the fire had not been started deliberately, as there was no evidence that an accelerant had been used and access to the site of the fire was difficult. Investigators found charred wood in eight places on a section of skirting on an escalator and matches in the running track,[30] showing that similar fires had started before but had burnt themselves out without spreading.[31] The investigators found a build-up of lubricant grease under the tracks, which was believed to be difficult to ignite and slow to burn once it started, but it was noted that the grease was heavily saturated with fibrous materials (fluff from clothes, tickets and other small litter, human hair, rat fur, etc.). A test was conducted where lit matches were dropped on the escalator to see if ignition would occur. Dropped matches ignited the contaminated grease and the fire began spreading. It was allowed to burn for nine minutes before being extinguished.[32]
This test confirmed the initial eyewitness reports up to that point, but four expert witnesses could not agree as to how the small fire flashed over, with some concern that the paint used on the ceiling had contributed to the fire.[33] A model of King's Cross station was built at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment using computer simulation software; this showed the flames lying down along the floor of the escalator rather than burning vertically before producing a jet of flame into the ticket hall. The result matched the eyewitness accounts of the fire, but the simulation's depiction of the fire burning parallel to the 30-degree slope of the escalator was thought by some to be unlikely and it was suspected that the programming might be faulty.[34] Experiments were conducted with a one-third-scale replica of the escalator built at the UK's Health and Safety Executive site at Buxton. After seven-and-a-half minutes of normal burning, the flames lay down as in the computer simulation.[35] The metal sides of the escalator served to contain the flames and direct the temperature ahead of the fire.[36] When the wooden treads of the escalator flashed over, the size of the fire increased dramatically and a sustained jet of flame was discharged from the escalator tunnel into the model ticket hall.[11] The 30-degree angle of the escalators was discovered to be crucial to the incident, and the large number of casualties in the fire was an indirect consequence of a fluid flow phenomenon that was later named the trench effect, a phenomenon completely unknown before the fire. The conclusion was that this newly discovered trench effect had caused the fire to flash over at 19:45.[37]
London Underground was strongly criticised in the report for its attitude to fires underground, underestimating the hazard because no one had died in a fire on the Underground before.[38] Staff were expected to send for the LFB only if the fire was out of control, dealing with it themselves if possible.[39] Fires were described as "smouldering", and staff had little or no training to deal with fires or evacuation.[38]
Legacy
Memorial plaque with the clock to the 1987 fire in the stationMemorial to the 1987 fire in St Pancras New Church
The publication of the report led to resignations of senior management of both London Underground and London Regional Transport (LRT), including Keith Bright, the chairman of LRT.[40] Wooden panelling was to be removed from escalators, heat detectors and sprinklers were to be fitted beneath escalators, and the radio communication system and station staff emergency training were to be improved.[41][42]
The Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989 were introduced.[43] Smoking was banned in all London Underground stations, including on the escalators, on 23 November, five days after the fire. Wooden escalators were gradually replaced, some remaining into the early 2000s (those at Wanstead were replaced in 2003 and at Marylebone in 2004,[44]) and since 2014 the entire London Underground has been operating on metal escalators, after the last wooden escalator at Greenford on the Central line was decommissioned on 11 March 2014.[45]
By 1997, the majority of the recommendations of the Fennell report had been implemented, with safety improvements including the removal of any hazardous materials, CCTV fitted in stations, installation of fire alarms and sensors and the issuing of personal radios to staff.[46]
London Underground was also recommended by the Fennell Report to investigate "passenger flow and congestion in stations and take remedial action".[47] Consequently, parliamentary bills were tabled to permit London Underground to improve and expand the busiest and most congested stations, such as London Bridge, Tottenham Court Road, Holborn and King's Cross St Pancras.[48][49]
Since then, major tube stations have been upgraded and expanded to increase capacity and improve safety. London Bridge was upgraded in conjunction with the Jubilee Line Extension project, which opened in 1999,[50] King's Cross St Pancras was substantially upgraded and expanded as a component of the High Speed 1 project in the late 2000s,[49][51] and Tottenham Court Road was expanded as part of the Crossrail project in the mid-2010s.[52]
The fire also led to improvement in firefighters' equipment: yellow plastic leggings that melted in the heat and rubber gloves that limited movement were replaced with more effective clothing.[53]
Six firemen received certificates of commendation for their actions at the fire, including Station Officer Townsley who was given the award posthumously.[54] Townsley was also posthumously awarded the George Medal.[55]
Soon after the fire a commemoration service was held at St Pancras Church.[56] Further commemoration services were held on 18 November 2002, the 15th anniversary of the blaze, on the 20th anniversary in 2007 at the station itself,[56] on the 25th anniversary in 2012 at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament near the station,[57] and on the 30th anniversary in 2017 at the station, with the laying of a wreath.[58]
Memorial plaques commemorating the disaster were installed at St Pancras Church, unveiled by Diana, Princess of Wales, and at King's Cross station.[56]
In popular culture
The Nick Lowe song "Who Was That Man?" from the 1990 album Party of One tells the story of the only unidentified victim of the King's Cross Fire, identified in 2004 as Alexander Fallon.[59]
Charles Duhigg in his book The Power of Habit discusses how bad corporate culture and inefficient management led to the disaster at King's Cross.[60]
↑ At the time of the fire, the Hammersmith & City line was treated as part of the Metropolitan line; it was not shown as a separate line until 1990.
↑ A collapsible lattice gate often used in Tube stations, old-style lifts etc.
Related Research Articles
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King's Cross Thameslink station is a closed railway station in central London, England. It is located on Pentonville Road, around 250 metres (0.2 mi) east of King's Cross mainline station. At the time of closure, in 2007, it was served by Thameslink trains and managed by First Capital Connect. Services have been transferred to a new station underneath St Pancras.
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The Oxford Circus fire occurred on 23 November 1984 at Oxford Circus station on the London Underground. Oxford Circus station is in the heart of London's shopping district and is served by three deep-level tube lines: the Bakerloo line, Central line and Victoria line. The three lines are linked by a complex network of tunnels and cross-passages which all converge to a common booking hall situated beneath the junction of Oxford Street and Regent Street.
The trench effect is a combination of circumstances that can rush a fire up an inclined surface. It depends on two well-understood but separate ideas: the Coandă effect from fluid dynamics and the flashover concept from fire dynamics:
The history of the London Underground began in the 19th century with the construction of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway. The Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863 using gas-lit wooden carriages hauled by steam locomotives, worked with the District Railway to complete London's Circle line in 1884. Both railways expanded, the Metropolitan eventually extending as far as Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, more than 50 miles (80 km) from Baker Street and the centre of London. The first deep-level tube line, the City and South London Railway, opened in 1890 with electric trains. This was followed by the Waterloo & City Railway in 1898, the Central London Railway in 1900, and the Great Northern and City Railway in 1904. The Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) was established in 1902 to fund the electrification of the District Railway and to complete and operate three tube lines, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway, the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, which opened during 1906–1907. By 1907, the District and Metropolitan Railways had electrified the underground sections of their lines.
The railway infrastructure of the London Underground includes 11 lines, with 272 stations. There are two types of line on the London Underground: services that run on the sub-surface network just below the surface using larger trains, and the deep-level tube lines, that are mostly self-contained and use smaller trains. Most of the lines emerge on the surface outside the Central London area.
Colin James Townsley, was the station officer in charge of Red Watch at Soho Fire Station. He was one of 31 people who were killed in the King's Cross fire in 1987 and the only firefighter to die. He died from smoke inhalation while assisting passengers to escape and was posthumously awarded the Chief Officer's Commendation and the George Medal for his bravery.
Croome, Desmond F.; Jackson, Alan Arthur (1993). Rails Through the Clay: A History of London's Tube Railways. Capital Transport. ISBN978-1-85414-151-4.
Fennell, Desmond (1988). Investigation into the King's Cross Underground Fire. Department of Transport. ISBN0-10-104992-7. Scan available online at railwaysarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
Further reading
Appleton, B. (1992). Report of an inquiry into health and safety aspects of stoppages caused by fire and bomb alerts on London Underground, British Rail and other mass transit systems. HSE Books. ISBN0-11-886394-0.
Chambers, P. (2006). Body 115: The Story of the Last Victim of the King's Cross Fire. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN0-470-01808-9.
Moodie, K. (1992). "The King's Cross Fire: Damage Assessment and Overview of the Technical Investigation". Fire Safety Journal. 18: 13–33. doi:10.1016/0379-7112(92)90045-E.
Simcox, S.; Wilkes, N.S.; Jones, I.P. (1992). "Computer Simulation of the Flows of Hot Gases from the Fire at King's Cross Underground Station". Fire Safety Journal. 18: 49–73. doi:10.1016/0379-7112(92)90047-G.
Vaughan, Adrian (2000). Tracks to Disaster. Ian Allan. ISBN0-7110-2731-5.
‡ indicates railway accidents and incidents resulting in at least 20 fatalities § indicates the deadliest railway accident in British history 1815–18992000–present
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