83:(Bury Fire Brigade). The blaze took 2.5 hours to bring under control and allow the firemen to bridge the burnt staircase with their ladders gaining access to the top floors. The scene was, as one fireman said, “horrific,” with 14 people dead in the club. Of those in the club at the time of the fire, the manager Bill Bohannon escaped, 14 died in the club, five died from jump injuries and two, maybe three, jumped and survived. The number is not clear due to difficulty in accessing the river channel and a comment that someone who had jumped was seen running away. Police Constable Brian White said he only saw three jump from the building. The fatalities included 11 men and eight women. Denis Wilson and Richard Sorrensen, the owners, and Sheila Bohannon, wife of the manager, were among those who perished in the fire.
92:
from opening. It was disclosed the door could be opened but it needed to be lifted over the false floor for it to open, something customers in their panic had never thought about. If this door had been opened all victims would probably have escaped. It was established that the blaze was so intense due to the highly flammable solvents and paints used in the furniture workshop. The cause of death was given as smoke inhalation. The fire never fully reached the top floor but the hot gases and smoke soon filled the whole building. Despite an investigation by the Police and Fire
Brigade, no actual cause for the fire could be given and the
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Upon arriving at the ground floor, he saw smoke coming under the door leading to the furniture workshop. He kicked the door down and was confronted with a raging inferno. The intensity of the fire prevented him returning upstairs, but he managed to escape. This inferno quickly spread up the stairs towards the club. As there was no other means of escape, some customers took to jumping from the windows. The windows available were those at the back, where there was an eight-floor drop onto bricks by the river channel.
129:
Licensing Act, Licenses can no longer set fire safety & capacity conditions - instead the
Responsible Person is required to determine requirements through a Fire Risk Assessment although the Fire Service retain inspection and enforcement responsibility under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (& devolved equivalents) which still includes a power to close premises if and when they are brought to their attention or if picked up in an audit visit.
124:, which required Fire Brigades to inspect clubs and requirements on owners to provide adequate exits and fire extinguishers. A new act, the Licensing Act 1964, also required all clubs to be inspected and a licence issued before they could open. The licence would include requirements on fire safety matters including exits, emergency lighting, maintenance and testing of equipment, etc and would set a maximum capacity. This was later incorporated into the
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1971 giving Fire
Brigades powers to close sub-standard night clubs. In 2006 the Fire Precautions Act was withdrawn (replaced with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England & Wales & similar legislation in Scotland & Northern Ireland) and following subsequent changes to the
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On the night of the fire, the club was quiet with it being a Monday. Between 20 and 25 people were in the club. At 11pm, less than half an hour after the visit by the owner, the manager Bill
Bohannon smelt smoke. He went down the single wooden staircase, which was the only means of access and egress.
70:
Bolton Fire
Brigade arrived within three minutes, but were unable to enter due to the intense fire. It was not possible to access the back with ladders, due to the river, and the turntable ladder was not long enough to bridge the river to reach the upper floors. Bolton were backed up by fire engines
91:
At the inquest, ex-club owner
Stanley Wilcock gave evidence of there being a door behind the bar. This was an inward opening loading bay door, which would have given access to the outside front of the building and a drop of 2 floors, but the fitting of a false dance floor in the club prevented it
44:
which at this point ran in a brick-lined channel. The club was opened in
December 1960 by Stanley Wilcock, who rented the building, using the lower floors for his business, making kitchen furniture. In March 1961, Wilcock sold his interest in the nightclub which occupied the top two floors of the
49:
businessmen; Denis Wilson and
Richard Sorrensen. Wilcock retained the lower floors for his furniture business. The club was small with just a few tables where customers could sit and listen or dance to tape-recorded music. The maximum occupancy was about 200.
39:
The club was located on Crown Street in Bolton and was on the top floors of an old mill warehouse building. From the street front, the building had three floors but the warehouse was built on a slope so the rear had eight floors looking out on to the
57:
and were concerned the building would be unsuitable for such use. On 1 May 1961 at 10.35pm, one of the owners, Norman
Balshaw went to the club and told Wilson and Sorrensen that the club was not to be continued, and they must vacate by 24 June.
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Bill
Bohannon, the manager of the club, who survived the fire, having suffered 20 per cent burns, died aged 84 in November 2013.
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31:, England. It achieved notoriety for a fire which occurred on 1 May 1961 in which 19 people perished.
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The owners of the building learnt of the nightclub's availability from an advertisement in the
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Details of Coroner’s Inquest, 30 January 1961 - June 13, 1961, Folder ABZ/73/1, Bolton Archive
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Details of Coroner’s Inquest, Folder ABZ/73/3, 2 May 1961 – 25 November 1968, Bolton Archive
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National Archives Kew, Public Records, original department reference FIR (1960) 8/707/4-8
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Nightclub in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, notorious for a 1961 fire
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Following the fire, there was an outcry, and questions were asked in
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120:. The result was a change in the Licensing Act, namely the
112:. The records of the questions and answers are held in the
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History of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom
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252:"Boss of fire-hit Top Storey Club dies at 84"
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321:Nightclub fires, disasters, and attacks
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899:May 1961 events in the United Kingdom
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232:National Archives, Kew, ref HO 346/10
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79:(Lancashire County Fire Brigade) and
894:1961 disasters in the United Kingdom
782:Colorado Springs nightclub shooting
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859:Buildings and structures in Bolton
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874:1960s fires in the United Kingdom
680:Dolphinarium discotheque massacre
446:República Cromañón nightclub fire
188:Bolton Evening News, May 2, 1961
650:West Berlin discotheque bombing
155:"The Top Storey Club Fire 1961"
752:Little Rock nightclub shooting
428:CanecĂŁo Mineiro nightclub fire
386:Beverly Hills Supper Club fire
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746:Cincinnati nightclub shooting
626:Puerto Rican Social Club fire
530:Fonda Milagros nightclub fire
211:Glasgow Herald, June 14, 1961
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770:Coatzacoalcos nightclub fire
764:Salamanca nightclub shooting
608:UpStairs Lounge arson attack
470:Sighetu Marmației explosions
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740:Istanbul nightclub shooting
698:Columbus nightclub shooting
668:Gothenburg discothèque fire
512:Binh Duong karaoke bar fire
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61:
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10:
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734:Orlando nightclub shooting
482:New Taipei water park fire
440:The Station nightclub fire
286:1961 in the United Kingdom
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722:Tel Aviv nightclub attack
644:Dallas nightclub shooting
614:Gulliver's nightclub fire
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536:Gayrettepe nightclub fire
506:Mountain B nightclub fire
494:Ghost Ship warehouse fire
356:Karlslust dance hall fire
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197:Bolton News, 20 June 2001
807:(cause of death unknown)
805:Enyobeni Tavern disaster
662:Otherside Lounge bombing
555:Throb nightclub disaster
524:Poipet casino hotel fire
422:Volendam New Year's fire
398:Alcalá 20 nightclub fire
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710:Arua nightclub shooting
488:Colectiv nightclub fire
276:List of nightclub fires
799:Pickwick Club collapse
758:Thousand Oaks shooting
686:Myojo 56 building fire
500:Yaoundé nightclub fire
416:Luoyang Christmas fire
864:Nightclubs in England
728:Cairo restaurant fire
602:Whiskey Au Go Go fire
434:UtopĂa nightclub fire
638:Droppin Well bombing
620:Gargantua bar attack
362:Top Storey Club fire
126:Fire Precautions Act
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596:Blue Bird Café fire
579:Los Olivos stampede
567:El ParaĂso stampede
476:Kiss nightclub fire
380:Summerland disaster
374:Play Town Club fire
368:Club Cinq-Sept fire
350:Cocoanut Grove fire
55:Bolton Evening News
23:was a nightclub in
835:53.5807°N 2.4271°W
704:Stage Club bombing
674:Panda Bar massacre
632:Denmark Place fire
573:Corinaldo stampede
561:E2 nightclub crush
518:Kostroma café fire
122:Licensing Act 1961
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114:National Archives
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879:1961 fires
853:Categories
823:53°34′51″N
141:References
110:Parliament
47:Manchester
826:2°25′38″W
257:9 January
160:9 January
104:Aftermath
270:See also
62:The fire
35:The club
588:Attacks
94:Coroner
87:Inquest
77:Horwich
25:Bolton
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791:Other
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328:Fires
133:Notes
73:Leigh
71:from
259:2014
162:2014
81:Bury
19:The
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116:in
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