Volume Six - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Select Aspects - Working the Ely Tidal Harbour . . .

Mr Henry Fisher, engineer of the Taff Vale Railway, Mr Hurman, general manager of that company, Mr John Gunn, who is largely interested in the Victoria Wharf; Mr J. J. P. Burt, and other gentlemen also assisted by their advice, but as a matter of fact the firemen were practically powerless. Some difficulty was experienced in obtaining a supply of water, as the tide was low, high water being at 5.10 p.m. and dead low water at 10.10 p.m. The s.s. Blonde, which had been lying off the wharf, had by this time been removed to the other side of the river, where she was now stranded high and dry in perfect safety. At 8.15 p.m. the fire engine first commenced to play on the burning jetties, and the effect of the jets of water was quickly apparent. Meanwhile Inspectors Lewis and Harris bad arrived with a strong body of police, and the constables were kept busily occupied in forcing back the crowd, whilst thousands of people congregated on the opposite cliff and on the railway embankments.

The gang of labourers worked hard in removing the goods stored in the outlying sheds, which were crammed with all sorts of imports, from raw materials to manufactured imports and exports which were taken off to a place of safety, The extent of the operations carried on here may be gauged from the fact that since last October, when the wharf was opened, over 80 steamers have unloaded their varied cargoes here. No adequate idea can be given of the fierceness and intensity of the fire. The scene is probably unparalleled in the annals of Cardiff.

The warehouse and wharf were simply fused into one glowing mass of timber, stone, and iron, intermingled with barrels of Russian lubricating oil, bales of esparto grass (owned by the Ely Paper Mills Company), bundles of moss litter, hay, straw, grain, and general produce. On the wharf a number of railway wagons belonging to the company and others owned by the Taff Vale Railway Company were consumed, and four fine hydraulic cranes of the latest and most improved type were also destroyed. All the machinery on the premises was worked by hydraulic power, and smoking, or the use of lights other than electric, was strongly forbidden. Hence the cause of the fire is absolutely incomprehensible.

The engine supplying the hydraulic power is situated fully a mile away, and the connecting pipes must soon have burst, but the water pouring from them had no visible effect on the fearful volume of fire. The oil floated away down the river, and small patches of it were actually on fire. One eye-witness states that early in the outbreak be saw burning masses of material, probably esparto grass, thrown into the air by a series of small explosions, and these would maternally aid in spreading the conflagration.