Smithfield Market by Frank Rust - Part of The Northcliffe Collection
Two firefighters lost their lives in a tragic blaze at Union Cold Storage Co. at Smithfield Market, The fire burned for three days in the centuries-old labyrinth, which ultimately collapsed. News reports at the time said that when the first fire engines arrived, thick acrid smoke was pouring out of the market’s maze of underground tunnels. A Station Officer and a firefighter headed down into the dense smoke, never to be seen alive again. Workers evacuate with barrows of meat. https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/ 23 January 1958. photograph by Frank Rust Northcliffe Collection