Remembering when fierce fire took hold at Greene King in Bury St Edmunds over 45 years ago
When a fierce fire took told at part of the Green King brewery more than 45 years ago, Robert Robertson grabbed his camera to capture the moment.
More than 40 firemen tackled the blaze at the Bury St Edmunds brewery’s electrical and paint store, in Crown Street, on the evening of Wednesday, August 1, 1979.
Robert, who worked as a cleaner, sugar man and miller at the brewhouse, helped put some hoses out of the window to help the firefighters which included Greene King’s own fire brigade.
His pictures were used on the front of that week’s Bury Free Press newspaper and he recently found them while going through his files.
The Bury Free Press reported the blaze caused extensive damage to the store’s 100 foot long roof which had recently been rebuilt.
No-one was injured in the fire.
Brewery worker Mike Ely, who lived next door to the site, raised the alarm after spotting the flames from his garden.
Clouds of black smoke were spotted more than a mile away and, at the time, it was thought to have been the worst fire at Greene King since 1950.
A show at the Theatre Royal was stopped as police warned the 200-strong audience of the danger, but evacuations proved unnecessary.
All roads around the building were sealed off.
The Bury Free Press spoke to Dorothey Os’Ben, of Rembrandt Way, Bury, who was one of the first at the scene.
She told the newspaper: “I came out from the theatre and said ‘good God, Greene King is ablaze’.
“The building was really well alight and the flames very high. It was quite a nasty sight.”
Greene King estimated the damage to be about £12,000, the bulk of which to be spent on repairing the roof.
Work on improving the roof and inside working conditions had just been completed at a cost of £8,000.
At the time, Joyce Hughes, the firm’s public relations officer, said an electrical fault appeared to be the cause.
On August 10, 1979, the Bury Free Press reported work had started on repairing the damage.
It was believed the fire started after an electrical fault in a distribution box caused a short circuit.
On Thursday, November 29, Greene King was hit by its second major blaze in three months with a fire in the bottling hall.
More than 70 firemen from across West Suffolk fought the blaze and six were taken to hospital with chemical burns.
A company spokesman said the damage would run into tens of thousands of pounds.
