FIRE AT OXFORD TERRACE.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1689, 19 July 1879, Page 2

FIRE AT OXFORD TERRACE.

At 11.30 last night the Lichfield street Are bell rang out the alarm, occasioned by a fire on Oxford Terrace in the old Baptist Church, recently removed from Hereford street and erected on tho vacant piece of ground opposite the Madras street bridge. Shortly before the time referred to a man named Carson was walking over tho bridge, when ho saw the reflection of a light, which at first appeared to be a good distance from him. Almost immediately afterwards ho saw two mon, who said there was a fire, and one of them then ran away. Carson entered tho front gate, and went round to the back of the church, for by this time the fire had shown itself more clearly. He found that the interior of a Bmall lean-to at the extreme rear of the building was in flames. The door at tho side was open, and on looking through he perceived a painter's oil can lying on its

side, from which the fire had apparently spread. FiDdiDg a long piece of scantling in the yard ho attempted to get the oil can away through the door, but the flames forced him back. He then ran round to the window on the othar side, forced it open, and made a similar attempt there, as it appeared to him that the oil was feeding the flames. In this second attempt he also fbilcd. At this time a few buckets of water might has been sufficient to extinguish the fire. Shortly afterwards, the brijacH arrived with the engines, and then the further progress of the fire was arrested, and it was almost confined to the lean-to, which, however, was completely gutted. From what could be learned, workmen had been engaged at the building daring the day, painting and finishing work generally. It was not known whether the building wasinsured, but the probability is that it waß not, as the removal from Hereford street had only just taken place. Later. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining information at the time of the fire (when the usual amount of confusion peculiar to such casesprevailed) the above facts, as given by &i individual to the police, do not, from la'er inquiries, seem to give a strictly correct impression of the circumstances attending the discovery of tho fire. It appears that a person named Wade, and Phips his friend, were the first discoverers of the fire, and one of them immediately went away to give the alarm. Possibly this was the person referred to by Oaraon as "running away." It appears that the choir of the church had been practising up to nine o'clock in tho evening, at which hour Mr Pillow locked the church, but did not enter the le?n-to. CHhers did, however, look over the entire building, and it is* thought likely that some one may have dropped a lighted lucifer in the lean-to, which was not quite finished, there being at the time no door to it. At the tame time it seems more probable that some one must have entered the building later on, as the fire broke out shortly after eleven o'clock, thus leaving an interval of nearly two hours between the departure of the choir and the discovery of the fire. The police are [still pursuing enquiries.