Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - A History of Penarth Dock by Roy Thorne . . .

Captain Harris at the time was at Cardiff and for a few minutes there was no-one to direct the movements to extinguish the fire. The furniture of the cabin, the chronometers, the ship's books and papers, and most of the movables were got out , and then it was seen that the fire had made a great advance, and was surely stealing upwards. A telegram was sent to Cardiff for the fire-engine, there being, strange to say, no engine in Penarth Dock or in the basin.

As the steam fire-engine, by the order of the Town Council, is not allowed to leave the borough, the manual engine was despatched, in charge of Fireman Williams. It left Cardiff at 1.45 and reached the burning ship at 2.10 having taken only twenty-five minutes to get over four miles of very muddy road . . . By this time the fire had got possession of the whole of the cabin and the flames rolled up the hatchway in dense volume that enwrapped the mizzen mast for a considerable height and threatened to destroy it.

Mr. Supt. Freeman who had already arrived in a cab, and who is Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, directed operations. Gradually, the effort to fight the fire was increasingly successful but there is no doubt that had the steam fire-engine been on hand the fire would have been quickly extinguished.

Capt. Harris, who had arrived some time before, had previously informed Mr. Freeman that besides some paraffin and kerozene, there was also a magazine of gunpowder on board. A slight explosion shook the stern of the vessel and from the black flames which rose directly after, was judged to be paraffin caused.

Several more members of the Cardiff Fire Brigade arrived in a cab and their trained exertions were at once brought to work, with a second hose which they had brought with them. But all they could do was to prevent the spread of the flames ; they could not extinguish them.

It was then decided to scuttle the ship in view of the gunpowder aboard, and two holes were bored fore and aft ; but the water entered but slowly, affording ample time for the removal of the ship's stores, sails and other property. The firemen got into the hold and gallantly tackled the blaze from within.