Seven Killed in Burkill Road Outbreak; Biggest Western District Blaze Destroys Huge Arca Shanghai, Feb. 22.
ISASTROUS conflagrations, which took a heavy toll in human lives and destroyed a vast a mount of property, wrought havoc in Shanghai yesterday. Seven copie were killed and many others injured after a blaze in Burkill Road early in the morning and]; other persons suffered various hurts following a factory fire in Warren Road shortly afterwards.
By far the most disastrous of all the conflagrations, however, occu the carly afternoon when a whole village situated between Great Western Road and Avenue Haig. containing factories, wooden' and stone built, shops, dwelling houses, mostly built of wood, refugee huts, matsheds nd_other buildings, was devoured in less than an hour by flames which were fanned by a northerly wind, Thanks to the combined efforts of of the French Brigade members the Shanghai Municipal and French they worked side by side with the Concession Fire Brigades the blaze white helmetted Settlement men. was prevented" from "spreading vall sides water was everywhere and areas bordering both roads, in which thousands of gallons were still being there were many' foreign residences. poured in after all the village build-trid business houses. Tn'danger from ings had been destroyed. the flames was the home of ste, Wu Damage by water to adjacent build. 'Teh-chen, former Mayor of the old ings, however, was not great although Shanghai' City Government, The several were' touched "by the ever building: was. saved spreading flames, This was. one of This was the biggest outbreak the most dimeult jobs which has con whlelt has occurred in the western fronted either brigade and great ere-istrict regions where there have ait is due to the men for the way wheen 50' many disastrous fires in den-in which the flames, which shot sely populated squatter villages. "The hundreds of feet into the air, were fire started at about 2 p.m. in son {kept within the limits of the village, huts situated to the rear of the TASSE. billets at Ash Camp. From Burkill Road Blaze this' point it spread with amazing rapidity to lanes bordering" Avenue Haig and to the west, Whether or not any lives were lost was not known yesterday, but over 1,000 persons, mostly small factory owner hose Workers and refugees Were ren dered homeless All of those people had no time int which to save their goods and most of them lost all, So dangerous did the situation become at one time that All people living in the No. Refugee Hospital in Avenue "Haig, Including hospital patients, were " evacuated. Luckily French and Settlement fire men, who performed a hero fe and dangerous task, kept the fire confined toa point at which it did not endanor the flimsily constructed buildings.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.