Firefighter with one leg tackles blaze at railway station

His wooden leg fell off as he raced to the scene. Despite his handicap, he refused to give up and continued battling the fire with his fellow crew members.

The blaze occurred at Didcot railway station 140 years ago tomorrow, just before 1pm on March 31, 1886. Didcot was then a village, with no firefighting equipment and no piped water.

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An account of the incident by S Allen Warner reads: “The Harwell ‘fire brigade’ appeared on the scene to reinforce the efforts of station staff and villagers who, with water from the wells at nearby hotels and the water cart from Blagrave Farm, were doing their best to check the flames.

“The Harwell ‘engine’, brought on a wagon and drawn by horses, was manned by a team of six to eight men.

The aftermath of the 1886 Didcot railway station fire

“One member of the team had a wooden leg and this not being securely fastened, fell off during the hasty journey over the uneven roads, and its owner was seen hopping around on one leg when at length the pump got to work.”

Crews from Wallingford and Abingdon arrived to help and members of the Oxford Volunteer Fire Brigade took their fire engine and truck – known as Gamecock – to Oxford station, loaded them on to a wagon and travelled to Didcot on the railway line.

Details of the fire – and the heroic one-legged man – were uncovered by historian and retired fire officer John Lowe, who lives in Kidlington.

A subsequent investigation found that the fire started when an employee holding an oil lamp near a fire in one of the station waiting rooms accidentally spilt some of the oil.

Jackson’s Oxford Journal reported: “The fire rapidly ignited the oil and before he had time to take action, the flames were roaring up the chimney. The chimney caught fire and it ran up through the telegraph office.”

The alarm had been raised after the bookstall clerk and an inspector noticed an unusual amount of smoke on the platform. In minutes, the wooden roof was on fire and flames spread rapidly throughout the building.

The newspaper report continued: “The stationmaster and inspectors with great promptness set to work in organising the men, but it was soon seen that their efforts would be useless.

“Meanwhile, a telegram had been sent to Oxford and the splendid fire engine was brought down the (railway) line and immediately set to work.

“The Harwell engine, too, arrived early and subsequently, there came the fire engines from Wallingford and Abingdon. All were brought to bear on the burning mass.”

It was soon clear that it would be impossible to save the station offices, but “the firemen, one and all, worked with a will and succeeded in saving valuable property”.

Passengers with their luggage gathered in safe corners of the station. Freight trains were halted, but most passenger trains continued to run using a loop line.

The newspaper added: “The fire continued unabated until early evening. The flames could be seen miles around.”