1947 rubber dump fire

A Ministry of Supply rubber tyre dump caught fire on the hottest day in 80 years, in June 1947, at Willow Lane, Mitcham. The fire was reported in the national newspaper the Daily Express, the huge plume of which could be seen from their Fleet Street building 7 miles away.

45 fire engines and 450 firemen vs 13,000 tons of rubber

Links

Merton Memories
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...
https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/co...


Daily Express - Tuesday 03 June 1947
Image © Reach PLC. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.c...

Merton Historical Society
Mitcham Histories 13 Willow Lane and Beddington Corner by Eric Montague
https://mertonhistoricalsociety.org.u...

1953 Ordnance Survey map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland reuse CC-BY (NLS)
https://maps.nls.uk/view/102901558#zo...