Talk:Denmark Place fire/Archive 1

Archive 1

Sourcing

I don't have the London's Disasters book to hand (I do have it somewhere though) but it would be another solid reference to use. That was how I found out the disaster in the first place. Scalytail (talk) 23:14, 23 August 2015 (UTC)

I've only heard of it through the article in The Independent. It mentioned that the incident was largely forgotten and lacked a Wikipedia page, so I went and created this. I wonder if it might be possible to find archives from other papers online. —ajf (talk) 23:20, 23 August 2015 (UTC)

Turns out there was an existing reference to the fire on Wikipedia! Denmark Street § 1980s–present covers it with some details this article currently lacks. Notably, it references London's Disasters, but also Underfire: The Dramatic Life of a London Fireman. We could copy this stuff over from that section, with references intact. —ajf (talk) 23:47, 23 August 2015 (UTC)

That's great! I've got to get to bed now. Tomorrow I'll find my copy of London's Disasters and try to add from there as well. I've added more to the article but it needs sourcing (I can do that tomorrow too if no else does so beforehand). More detail about how the fire took hold is needed, as horrific as it was. Scalytail (talk) 00:17, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

I've tried to source London's Disasters but the reference doesn't want to format properly. Scalytail (talk) 12:17, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Place versus street ... bad coord

First sentence of "Circumstances" talks about 18 Denmark Street. The venue was 18 Denmark Place.

The coord points to (the middle of?) Denmark Street. The location of the fire, as far as I can establish, is (possibly) somewhere nearer 51.51554°N 0.12921°E / 51.51554; 0.12921, based on the map at this zooropa page - http://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/18-denmark-place/london/wc2h-8nl/25469538 ...again, the venue was Denmark Place, albeit with a fire exit which issued onto Denmark Street, and not Denmark Street. --Tagishsimon (talk) 00:31, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

The 51.51/0.12 coord you link is in the middle of the River Thames. But I agree - the coord as given in the article currently is off by some metres. The building where the fire took place, to the best of my recollection, was connected to no. 26 Denmark Street; there is an alley running between 26 and 27, perpendicular to Denmark Street, which is the section of Denmark Place shown on the Zoopla map. The Independent article doesn't show a picture of the building today but it does show the journalist standing right at the entrance to the alley here and an aerial view of the building here. The Independent also states that "No 18 Denmark Place is still visible from Charing Cross Road" which indicates that it is not inside that alley but at the rear of no. 26, at the end of the alley, on the stretch of Denmark Place parallel to Denmark Street. Of course, without a reference this is effectively original research - and my memory isn't perfect. Keri (talk) 16:26, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

The Indy goes on to be more specific, saying "On the other side of the wall, at 22 Denmark Street." That puts me out by 4 shop fronts and would indicate that the building was to the rear of this building. Keri (talk) 16:34, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Mmm. Confusing my east with my west. I've done some more looking, and concur that the premises we're after were to the rear of 22 Denmark Street. The "Sub-Area Map" linked to from this page (or, direct, here) shows the numbering of properties at Denmark Place & Street. Based on this map, I think the coord would be 51.51551°N 0.12959°W / 51.51551; -0.12959. --Tagishsimon (talk) 14:01, 5 September 2015 (UTC)