All traffic on Great Western Road and Avenue Haig was stopped in the fire area, in which nearly 20 engines were stationed with waiting aimbulances and nurses. Over the scene a dense black cloud of smoke poured out from blazing buildings and into this firentien dashed as they carried their hoses through labyrinths of alleyways, across roof tops, and muddy, grass grown patches. Here they. met danger, for se intense was the heat that poles carrying electrically charged wines were burning furiously, with the result that several collapsed, depositing the wires on the ground. A call was sent to the Shanghai Power Ca., which sent men to cut off the supply.
Directing operations at the scene were Capt. H. G. Read, Chief Officer of the Shanghai Fire Brigade, and Commdt. A. Rovere, Chief Officer of the Finch Concession Brigade. All available engines from French stations were despatched to the blaze; while the Settlement Brigade provided machines from three divisions, Bubbling Well, Ichang Road and Sinza. These were still at the scene after 5 p.m. when nothing was left except a charred mass of ruined factories and homes, some of them still burning furiously, Kept back py armed members of the "Special Municipality" Police and Japanese gendarmes, were hundreds of the distraught homeless, whose only desire was to dash back into the blazing area to retrieve as much of their belongings as they could. Lining the pavement on Great Western Road hundreds of them sat with hopeless expressions on their faces. In Avenue Haig there were even more. None were allowed to go back, The destruction had been terrific.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.