AMMANFORD FIRE STATION
A Brief HistoryWe take the institutions of modern civilisation for granted today. All our national and local government structures, schools, health service, transport systems and basic services like water, gas and electricity are laid on in such a way that we don't notice they're there, at least until the bills come in or something goes wrong.
And the emergency services—fire, ambulance and police—fall into that category; they seem to have always been there, available just by dialling 999. But all of these services, essential though they seem now, are barely a century old and what we had at the beginning of the twentieth century appears absolutely chaotic compared to what we are used to today. The development of Ammanford's fire service is a case in point. We have a record of a fire in the cellar of a building on Ammanford Square in the late-19th century and we know of it because it was commemorated in verse by one of Ammanford's leading poets at the time, local teacher and chapel minister Watcyn Wyn. Women, as well as men, rushed out to fight the blaze and in his poem he describes what passed for the fire service at the time:
There is no fire-engine up in the place,
Nor a pipe of water down,
But all at once there was a race
And a rush all over the town;
Every boy and girl, every man and wife,
Every bucket and shovel and spade
Were on the spot working for life
In the Ammanford Fire Brigade.The nearest town which had a fire engine at this time was Llanelli (then spelled Llanelly), and when the blaze proved too great for Ammanford's volunteers, Llanelli's fire engine—horse drawn in those pre-car days—had to be sent for, though by the time it arrived Ammanford's brave volunteers had put the fire out:
The Engine up from Llanelly came
O'er a road that is rough and long;
They drove the good steeds till they were lame,
And nothing at all went wrong;
But before they reached to Ammanford
And a halt on the Square was made,
The Demon was conquered—thank the Lord—
By the Ammanford Fire Brigade.It's not clear how the request was conveyed to Llanelli—there were no telephones at that time as Ammanford Post Office, then on College Street, didn't acquire a switchboard until around 1910. So perhaps a message was taken to Llanelli by train, which would have taken half an hour even if there had been a train due. More probably though it would have been transmitted by telegram from Ammanford Post Office to Llanelli Post Office and then rushed by messenger to the fire station. We don't know for sure, but even if a telegram was used, the horse-drawn fire appliance still had to travel over the Mynnydd Mawr via Tumble to Ammanford, a journey which would have taken at least a couple of hours, even with the good steeds being driven "til they were lame", as the poem tells us.
Watcyn Wyn's poem was printed in leaflet form by Gwilym Vaughan, at one time a well-known printer in Ammanford. The poem was re-printed in the South Wales Guardian in 1969 but its author Watcyn Wyn died in 1905 so it was written some time before then.
In 1903, the newly-formed Ammanford Urban District Council as one of its programmes of improvements established a fire brigade, all of them volunteers, who were described as “gentlemen in pursuit of excitement.”
An idea of the situation can be gleaned from this newspaper article of 1916. Here, the shortcomings of a rural fire cover in what had now become an industrialised valley are exposed in stark detail:
THE AMMAN VALLEY CHRONICLE & EAST CARMARTHEN NEWS
THREE FIRES IN NUMBER
[29th June 1916]The destructive fires, three in number, that have occurred in the Amman Valley during the last few days once more calls attention to the urgent need for proper fire appliances. Up to date Ammanford has been content with a hose reel, a ladder and a few hatchets, and a more or less unorganised fire brigade, while at Cwmamman and Brynamman they are dependent upon the mercy of Providence.
....This is one of the detrimental results of having a valley which naturally lends itself to government by one public body, split up into three urban and rural areas, one of which has its being in Llandeilo! Of course, there are many other questions which can be and are being dealt with by joint committees such as the Sewerage Board, but how much better it would be if all local affairs in the valley could be dealt with in that way.
.... The provision of adequate fire appliances, including steam or motor engine, would be a small matter if the cost of it were spread over the whole area, and there would be some pride taken in the position of fireman, if a property organised brigade were instituted and carried out its practices in various parts of the valley.
.... It is evident the Cwmamman people have no high opinion of the Ammanford Brigade, when they prefer to send to Swansea for a fire-engine, and it must be conceded that the motor engine arrived on the scene of the outbreak as soon as, or even sooner than could the Ammanford men with their hose reel.
.... But, of course, the hose reel without a manual engine would have been useless. In Ammanford, where there is great pressure from the water mains, a hose reel may be sufficient, but outside in such places as the Raven Tinplate Works, where water had to be obtained from sumps in the yard, no pressure could be obtained except by means of an engine.
.... Really, has not the time come, if the various Councils cannot agree to amalgamate and become one governing body, to seriously approach the question of combining for the purpose of putting the Valley in the position of having adequate protection against the ravages of fire?
Old-style fire helmet resting on fire hose This photograph shows one of the brass helmets which become the symbol of a threatened strike by members of the brigade. Discontent had been brewing for a number of years regarding the issue of equipment and protective clothing for the firemen. After protracted negotiations the Council in September 1927 reluctantly acquired nine London Brigade pattern brass helmets from Messrs. Merryweather & Sons, at a cost of £2. 1s.6d. each, described as having a brass comb, front plate and curb-chain chin-strap, complete with leather head lining.
This was the first article of protective clothing or identity issued to the town's fire personnel; before this firemen attended fires in their own clothing and claimed compensation if these suffered damage during the course of duty. Records show that the procedure to obtain compensation was laborious, and niggardly assessed by the Council when it was granted.
At this time the Brigade's fire-fighting equipment consisted of two hundred yards of usable canvas hose, a water valve turnkey and a handcart—the same equipment that can be seen in the Keystone Cops films of the era.
Call-out to an incident was by word of mouth, passed on, shouted down the streets, in the hope that the firemen in their homes or at place of work would hear the call to respond. They then had to run or cycle to the location where the equipment was stored, manhandling the cart to the scene of the fire, connecting up hoses to the nearest hydrant and just pouring as much water onto the blaze as they could. Needless to say, many of the fires that occurred were either put out by residents themselves or the property was completely destroyed before the brigade arrived to fight the fire.
The presence of a brigade was however better than nothing at all; neighbouring hamlets had no such organisation in any form.
In 1935 a proposal appeared before the local council to convert the defunct electrical Power House on Park Street into a mortuary. Objections from the seven residents of Foundry Row behind the Power House at this alarming prospect defeated this grisly proposal and Ammanford Volunteer Fire Brigade occupied the premises as the town's fire station for a while, now mercifully cadaver-free.
In the late 1930s, discussions were entered with the adjoining local authorities to establish a larger, better-equipped fire-fighting organisation to serve the district, as sometimes Pontardawe and Llanelli fire appliances had to be called out to major fires in the Amman valley. No agreement between the various councils was reached but fortunately no fire fatalities were recorded during this period.
With the outbreak of war in 1939, the Auxiliary Fire Service was created as part of the Civil Defence programme, being reformed in 1941 as the National Fire Service. By this time, the old Volunteer Fire Brigade had disappeared. The war-time fire station was located to the rear of Ammanford Social Club (the Pick and Shovel on Wind Street).The end of war provided the opportunity to finally reform fire services nationally into a permanent, better-equipped and professional service. In 1947 all powers under the Fire Services Act were to be vested in the County Boroughs and County Councils. The Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire Joint Fire Brigade, under professionally trained officers, reorganised the services, establishing nineteen new Fire Stations, one of which was the purpose-designed complex in High Street, Ammanford, opened in April 1956 by Mr. James Griffiths M.P.
In the immediate post-war years, a local businessman prepared plans for the construction of a super-modern entertainment centre, containing a cinema, ballroom, restaurant and other leisure facilities. The location for this venture was earmarked for an open enclosure in High Street, known as ‘Castle Field' (the present site of the Fire Station) and one wonders where the Fire Station would have been sited had these proposals come to fruition.
The opening of the new fire station in 1956 was reported in the local newspaper and to gain a flavour of the times here it is in some detail:
THE GROWTH OF AMMANFORD FIRE-FIGHTING SERVICE
[South Wales Guardian 5th April 1956]Last Tuesday marked another step forward in the history of Ammanford, as on that day Mr. James Griffiths MP formally opened the new Fire Station in High Street of the Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire Joint Fire Brigade.
....A description of the new building has already been given in these columns so to avoid any repetition, let me pass on by giving you a resume of the Ammanford Fire Brigade, and how the new service compares with the old.
....In 1903 the first Volunteer Fire Brigade consisted of two men – Turncock J. Davies and Fireman L. Lewis. The only equipment available to these was a hose cart, housed in the Council Yard. Between 1903 and 1938, the brigade increased to nine men, with Captain Joe Joseph in charge. By now, the equipment increased to two handcarts, a wheeled escape and a 40-ft trussed ladder. Then in 1938, the Fire Brigade Act came into operation, and it became compulsory on all District Councils to form and operate a Brigade. A major pump was purchased.
....The outbreak of World War II in 1939 prevented further action on the 1938 Act. In 1940, the Fire Station was moved to the rear of Ammanford Social Club [the Pick and Shovel on Wind Street]. An Ammanford Fire Station substation was set up in Iscennen Road with Mr. Stan Owen as Commandant. There were five auxiliary firemen and a light pump.
....In 1941, the National Fire Service was formed, and the Ammanford Fire Station was moved to the Social Club.
....1947 came, and the National Fire Service was dissolved, but fire fighting and fire prevention services were not returned to the 1938 authorities. All powers under the Fire Services Act were vested in the County Boroughs and County Councils.
....The Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire Joint Fire Brigade was formed in 1948. Nineteen Fire Stations were established with 254 retained and volunteer firemen; full-time personnel numbered 78. There were 168 A.F.S. (Auxiliary Fire Service).
....In 1951 new headquarters were opened at Carmarthen by the Secretary of State. It is interesting to note that the number of calls dealt with by the Fire Service during the past eight years total 5,182WHAT A CHARACTER
Joe Joseph was the Captain of the Fire Brigade when I came to Ammanford. He and his Brigade were the targets for much criticism and there were occasions when he did not find favour with the Council. But Joe Joseph and his Brigade were more to be pitied than to be blamed.
....The equipment doled out to them must have been in use during the Fire of London. The hoses were defective and often burst, and consequently poor old Joe became the subject of much ridicule.
....But was he ruffled? Not he. Once when he was accused of being late in turning up at a fire on the premises of a local shopkeeper, he told the latter: “Why the **** didn't you tell me the previous day that you were going to have a fire?”
.....The story is supposed to be true.THE PIANO
I have recollections of two serious outbreaks of fire at Ammanford: one at a tailor's shop and the other at the Baltic Saw Mills. There was a grave danger of the fire spreading from the tailor's shop to adjoining houses, and it was deemed necessary to remove the furniture from these premises. I helped to shift a piano from one house into the street. I got no thanks for what I did that night, although I practically spoilt a suit.
.....The fire at the saw mills was certainly one of the worst to happen in Ammanford and it caused thousands of pounds worth of damage. Joe Joseph and his merry men worked very hard that night.
.....But we have made tremendous progress in coping with fires since those days. Today the most modern of equipment is available and our firemen are fully trained.IN A REMENISCENT MOOD
A large and representative gathering of public men attended the formal opening by Mr. James Griffiths MP, who was later presented with the Brigade Crest by the County Architect.
....Mr. Griffiths was in a reminiscent mood when he addressed the gathering earlier and he paid tribute to the craftsmen and pioneers who had helped to make Ammanford the town it was today. He mentioned that the later were immortalised in a poem by Watcyn Wyn, and reference had been made to the three shops on the Square.
....Touching upon the Fire Brigade of his boyhood days he recalled that he assisted in carrying buckets of water from the river to put out a serious fire at a grocery shop and bakery on the square.
....In a tribute to the Joint Fire Service, Mr. Griffiths said they should be grateful to the men who served in it, and he was proud of the fact that the Chief Fire Officer was an old collier. He then went on to praise the fine spirit and comradeship which prevailed in the Brigade in Ammanford. Here he said that in some parts they could not find enough men to man the fire service. In Ammanford and Tumble there was no difficultly, and there were plenty of volunteers. He was glad of that.
....Mr. Griffiths further said they owed much to these men, who gave up their leisure hours to serve the community. Fire was a good servant but a bad master.THREE FIRES
There have been far too many fires in the Ammanford area over the past century to report in detail in this brief history. But former Ammanford firefighter Derek Norman has gone back in time and compiled an extensive and detailed history of Ammanford Fire Station and its personnel, including all the major fires. Now, thanks to his Ammanford Fire Station website, we can peer back in time to three recent fires which totally destroyed prominent Ammanford businesses, all within the memory of many of Ammanford's residents. They are: the Regal Ballroom, Tirydail (1967); the Arcade fire (1976); and Shopper's World, Wind Street (1986).
1. THE REGAL BALLROOM (1967)
On the 8th of September 1967 a major fire destroyed the Regal Ballroom which was to die in its ashes. The fire occurred early in the evening and within minutes the whole structure was engulfed in flames and even 30 firemen from the Ammanford, Tumble and Llanelli fire stations were unable to save any section of the property. The management took very little interest in the venture after the fire, leaving a tangled mass of twisted corrugated sheets scattered around the site. The situation compelled the local authority to serve formal notices on the owners to make safe and secure the damaged property. What transpired in later years is not clear, except that a legal battle ensued, with the issue remaining unchanged until the premises again changed ownership in 1970.
Not surprisingly, the fire was reported in Ammanford's local newspaper, the reassuringly named South Wales Guardian, who carried the following story:
FORENSIC TESTS MAY ESTABLISH CAUSE OF FIRE
"Now we are in grave trouble" says company chairman
[South Wales Guardian, 14th September 1967REGAL GUTTED
Police are conducting a full-scale investigation to establish the cause of the fire which completely gutted the Regal Ballroom, Tirydail, last Friday night.
....This was revealed by Superintendent Meurig Thomas, Ammanford, this week.
....Detective Sergeant Roy Davies, who is in charge of investigations said:
...."We have drawn no conclusions yet but are still making inquiries. We hope that forensic tests now being carried out in Cardiff will enable us to establish the cause of the fire."
....A police spokesman said later that he could not state yet if any charges were likely to arise.
....Damage caused by the fire was estimated by Mr. Denzil Price, the ballroom manager, to be in the region of £20,000.
....Mr. R. H. Rumble, chairman of Flat Hire Ltd, Swansea, the company which owns the building, says his firm has suffered a serious loss.
...."Our insurance cover was based on what was paid for the building. Now we are in grave trouble for it would cost us about £40,000 to erect another to hold 1,400 dancers as the Regal did," he said.
....Mr Rumble revealed that the fire had put paid to plans envisaged for the ballroom by his company, "We had got to the stage of arranging a meeting with Mr. Scott of Scott Lanes Ltd., Llanelli, and in conjunction with him we had hoped to stage some very attractive shows in the autumn."
Red sky at night – the Regal on the evening of September 8th, 1967. (Photo: South Wales Guardian.) 30 FIREMEN
Thirty firemen from Ammanford, Tumble, and Llanelli directed by deputy chief officer, H. Penrhyn Jones, raced to the blaze after receiving the alarm.
....Mr. Bob Andrews, the driver of a diesel passenger train plying between Llanelli and Llanwrtyd Wells spotted smoke building up at one end of the hall when his train pulled into nearby Tirydail Station at 7.24pm.
....Said Mr. Andrews: Just as we were about to leave two minutes later the entire building burst into flames."FLAMES SEEN FROM A DIDTANCE OF 12 MILES
Within minutes the hall, was a blazing inferno which could be seen by firemen racing to the assistance of the Ammanford brigade from a distance of 12 miles.
....Mrs. Emrys Price who lives in Tirydail Lane – alongside the premises – was collecting washing from her garden line.
....She told the Guardian reporters: "I saw smoke curling around the roof to begin with and then just in a couple of seconds the whole building seemed to explode exactly as if a bomb had gone off. It was an inferno, there is no other name for it." My eight-year daughter Jane was hysterical because the flames were so near the houses. It's a wonder the windows have not broken because of the heat."
....Mrs. Price's mother, Mrs. Ben Jones, who was in the house at the time, said she was frightened because the flames were "Coming over the houses in the street. The heat was terrific. You could have cooked ham and eggs in the garden," she said.
....Cause of the fire remains a mystery but one possible explanation was given by Mr. R. H. Rumble who thinks it could well have been caused by an electric transformer situated in the centre of the building.
....Mr. Evans who lives near the building and who was employed as caretaker of the ballroom, told reporters that the only people he had let in to the premises were prospective buyers.
...."My friends and I were walking up from the railway line and came across this ... The heat was terrific. A crack eventually split the front down the middle. At the end of the fire, all that was standing was the front. It looked like the last stand at the Alamo. An apt name for what went on in there at times. Great days. What memories. "Yes, and I was there. A mate and me used to work in the cloakrooms when we were thirteen. But that's another story."
The Regal had been in decline for some time before this fire, fueling suspicion in some minds that financial difficulties might have been a motive for arson, but no evidence for this theory ever came to light.2. THE ARCADE (1976)
The night of 23rd April 1976 saw the biggest fire in Ammanford's history up to that date when most of the top section of Ammanford's arcade was destroyed. The arcade had been built by Evan Evans the Chemist around 1910 and in 1914 it was extended with the addition of the Palace cinema and a row of shops. Above the shops was the fourteen-table Lucania Temperance Billiard Hall which closed for business in 1964. It was soon converted into a short-lived bowling alley whose two lanes made it the smallest in Wales. Its next incarnation was as an entertainment centre and cabaret club the Regal Social Club (not to be confused with the earlier Regal Ballroom in Tirydail), basically a bingo hall and bars. But that fateful fire of 1976 put paid to the whole of the top end of the Arcade in just a few hours. The local newspaper tells the story:
TRADERS HIT BY ARCADE BLAZE
SOCIAL CLUB AND SIX SHOPS DESTROYED
[South Wales Guardian 29th April 1976]
The grim and blackened remains of Ammanford Social Club (also known as the Eriskay) after Friday night's fire which gutted the club and destroyed six shops. THE BIGGEST fire in the history of Ammanford has inflicted a blackened, acrid-smelling scar on one of the town's shopping precincts, and has created a vacuum in at least one section of local social life.
....The blaze which engulfed the Regal Social Club on Friday evening and went on to destroy six adjoining shops in the Arcade, is roughly estimated to have caused about £500,000 worth of damage. The town's only cinema, the Palace, was threatened by the blaze but saved from damage.
....This week the shopkeepers had the grim task of salvaging what charred or water-sodden remains of their businesses.
....For the directors of the Regal Social Club there is nothing left; they can only call in the assessors and count the cost. Mr. E. Howard Evans, of Carmarthen, who owned the building in partnership with his brother has had to call in contractors to knock down the pine end facing College Street, because it is unsafe.
....The loss of the Regal will be sadly felt by many bingo fans to whom an evening at the club had become a way of life in the 30 months since it opened. Mrs Jean Eagle, who discovered the fire, has been manageress of the club since it opened in November 1973. She told me, “It was a whole way or life for many people. Most of the bingo fans were middle-aged or old-age pensioners and although there was drink on the premises, 90 per cent of them didn't drink. They came there to play bingo and meet friends. It will be sadly missed by a lot of people.”BINGO PLAYERS
Almost 250 bingo players had just left the club when the fire was discovered at 9.30 p.m., and on a busy night as many as 450 crowd into the hall. Mrs Eagle said that on the night of the fire she had been sitting in the bar, drinking with some of the staff and clients when she sensed that something was badly wrong. She looked around and noticed smoke coming from the top of a door leading to the cabaret room and adjoining kitchens upstairs. I opened the door and flames roared out towards me. Slamming the door shut, I raised the alarm and with my husband, Bernard, saw to the evacuation of the building.LIKE A NIGHTMARE
.“People just stood there, mesmerized. They didn't seem to realise the seriousness of the situation. It was like a nightmare. It was heartbreaking to see those flames engulfing a place that had so many memories for us all,” she recalled.
....And she is deeply concerned about the future of the dozen or so full and part-time staff who worked at the club, both in the bingo section and in the cabaret room upstairs.
....One of these, Mrs. May Evans a widow who ran the sweets counter since the club opened said that the income from the job had supplemented her old age pension and she had enjoyed her work. “There is not much hope of me getting another job. My age is against me,” she added sadly.EXITS
Mr. Ken Howells, Ammanford bookmaker and a director of the Medina Bingo company, Llanelli Ltd, said that he and his partners Mr. Jack Davies, of Neath, would like to see the building rebuilt so that they could carry on as before. He estimated that it would cost at least £40,000 just to furnish and equip any such building.
....And he stressed that even if the hall had been full of bingo players, they would all have been safely evacuated in a few minutes through the three separate exits. “The fire provisions were up to date and complied with the fire regulations”, he added.
...Like the old Regal, the new Regal hadn't exactly been thriving before the fire, and old suspicions surfaced that financial difficulties might have been involved. Again, and despite extensive forensic investigations that followed the fire, no evidence was forthcoming to confirm these doubts.
That ‘blackened, acrid-smelling scar' was demolished in 1980 to make way for a car park, and along with the charred remains of the fire went the Palace Cinema opposite which, though it had escaped the fire, could not escape the economic climate which had closed Ammanford's other cinema, the Miners Hall, some five years earlier. A bleak car park now stands where there was once a busy shopping and leisure arcade.
3. SHOPPER'S WORLD (1986)
1986 saw an even bigger blaze than the Arcade when Ammanford's recently built indoor shopping centre, Shopper's World, went up in smoke, taking half a million pounds of businesses with it. Once more the South Wales Guardian was on hand to report the conflagration:
A NIGHT WHEN DREAMS WENT UP IN FLAMES
[South Wales Guardian, 8th May 1986]More than 60 fire-fighters worked throughout the night to contain the half a million pounds inferno which last night gutted Shopper's World in Wind Street, Ammanford, and left many traders sifting through the ashes of which had once been flourishing businesses.
....Specialist equipment from Pembroke Dock was brought in and it was the first time that a hydraulic platform had been used in a fire in the Ammanford area.
....The alarm was raised at 11.20 pm and first on the scene were two Ammanford engines quickly followed by machines from Llandeilo, Tumble, Carmarthen, Pontardawe and Pontarddulais. Two hydraulic Platforms were summoned – one from Neath the other from Pembroke Dock. An emergency tender from Llanelli brought emergency supplies and emergency lighting when the Electricity Board turned off power for safety reasons. A control unit from Haverford West arrived to direct operations from a central point.
Firemen attempt to control the blaze as it rips through Shopper's World. RAPID
“The section which housed the Money Saver area was well alight and fire was breaking through the roof,” said a Fire Spokesman. “Assistance messages were immediately transmitted for additional personnel due to the rapid spread of the fire.” It was also considered that snooker tables on the first floor are a potential and serious hazard to safety of the men fighting the fire directly beneath. On a point of safety, crews were withdrawn and the fire contained and surrounding properties protected from flying embers, which were being carried across premises over the church hall as far as the Bazaar. Firemen were positioned on top of ladders to protect the buildings. The brigade's main task on Thursday was to carry out a detailed investigation as to the possible cause.
....Recently chief officer, Mr Ronnie King, has set up fire investigative teams within the county and these officers are being deployed to work in liaison with police.
....The fire was under control around 3 am. And some engines were then released.
....To assist the brigade the Gas Board and Water Board were summoned. The water Board increased the pressure of water in the mains at the front and rear of the building.
....“I'd like to compliment them for their prompt attendance and also ambulance men, who were on hand,” said the brigade spokesman.
....The spokesman praised a Llandybie man, a member of the St. John's Ambulance, who gave prompt first aid to injured firemen hurt by falling masonry and rolls of carpet stored at the rear of the building.
....During the incident police cleared affected streets of traffic and kept bystanders well away form any danger.
....Officers from Carmarthen and Llanelli were also in attendance to take charge of fire fighting crews.
....Unlike the earlier Arcade and Regal Ballroom, Shopper's World and its upstairs snooker hall were soon rebuilt by the owners, who included local bookmaker Ken Howells, a part-owner also of the Regal Social Club at the time of its demise in 1976.PLANS FOR SIRE-HIT COMPLEX
SHOPS RISE FROM ASHES
SHOPPER'S WORLD
[South Wales Guardian 15th May 1986]Ammanford's £ ½ million shopping complex gutted by fire last week is to be rebuilt. Speaking from his Margaret Street home, bookie Ken Howells said this week both the indoor market and the snooker hall above it would be rebuilt as soon as possible.
....In partnership with his son Grant, son-in-law Alan and Alan's mother, Mrs. Enid James of Llandybie, Mr. Howells owned the former Co-op building in Wind Street which had been converted into about 20 small shops and one large unit called Moneysavers. The Snooker Hall on the first floor was run by Mr Howells' wife Muriel, but the partners also have snooker halls at Morriston and Church Village, Pontypridd.
....Estimating the actual cost of the fire damage is difficult, says Mr. Howells. But reports have stated figures of about £ ½ million.POPULAR
“It's a question of rebuilding”, he said. “I've got no idea what it would cost, but that is our intention. All the 20 stalls at Shopper's World were taken and our tenants were very pleased with the way trade was going. It had bucked up a lot in the last month. Both the café and the stall selling baskets and wickerwork were being extended. The snooker hall was very popular and a summer league had been formed.”
....As was his custom Mr. Howells looked in at the snooker hall on his way home form work last Wednesday.
....“I called at 9.15 pm on my way back from Swansea and all the tables were occupied. I left about half an hour later but at 11.10 pm I received a phone call from a member of staff to say that smoke was coming up over the roof of the rear of Moneysavers, Reg Vobe's shop.”TWICE
Mr. Howells said both Mr. Vobe and his son-in-law had been playing snooker at the Hall until 10.30 pm.
....Mr. Howells was among a large crowd of spectators who watched the blaze which was eventually brought under control about 3 a.m.
....Mr Howells has learnt the hard way that lightening can strike twice.
....Ten years ago the Regal (also known as the Eriskay) at the top of Ammanford's Arcade in College Street was destroyed by fire. It housed a bingo hall, nightclub and restaurant. Mr. Howells was one of the three partners who owned it.
....“I'm stunned”, he said, “It's something you can't really envisage – you think it always happens to someone else.”BLAZE INQUIRY GOES ON
Samples of debris from Shopper's World have been sent to the forensic science laboratory at Chepstow, Ammanford's police chief has confirmed.
....Questioned as to the likely cause of last week's blaze Chief Inspector Moelwyn Morgan, head of Ammanford sub-division said, “We are still keeping an open mind. We are carrying out inquiries and waiting for the result of forensic test. Samples have been sent to the forensic science laboratory for analysis.”
....Last Thursday, the day after the fire, Dyfed Powys Police Authority's scenes of crime officer Detective Constable Bill Roberts of Llanelli together with Dyfed Fire Brigade officers sifted through the charred remains.
....On Friday insurance assessors examined the gutted building and later that day demolition experts demolished the section fronting onto Wind Street because it was in a dangerous state.WATCYN WYN'S POEM
Here is the full text of the poem by Ammanford poet Watcyn Wyn (Watcyn Hezekiah Williams, 1844-1905) quoted from above. Watcyn Wyn normally wrote in Welsh and won Welsh poetry's highest accolade twice, winning the National Eisteddfod Crown Prize in 1881 and the Chair Prize in 1884. On the occasion of the Ammanford Square blaze he wrote in English:
Ammanford Fire Brigade
By Watcyn Wyn (1844–1905)A Fire broke out in the block by the Square,
And a dreadful fire too;
It soon ran up from the cellar there,
And out four storeys through;
The heat, and the sparks, the glare and the flames,
And the speedy havoc it made
Called out the strength of the sires and dames
Of the Ammanford Fire Brigade.There is no fire-engine up in the place,
Nor a pipe of water down,
But all at once there was a race
And a rush all over the town;
Every boy and girl, every man and wife,
Every bucket and shovel and spade
Were on the spot working for life
In the Ammanford Fire Brigade .The roar of the flames was threatening the town,
And a rush was made to the Square,
And streams of water were pouring down,
And the brave to the cellar did dare;
The willing arm, and the helping hand,
What noble work they made
To form the Volunteer Band
Of the Ammanford Fire Brigade .
The Engine up from Llanelli came
O'er a road that is rough and long;
They drove the good steeds till they were lame,
And nothing at all went wrong;
But before they reached to Ammanford
And a halt on the Square was made,
The Demon was conquered—thank the Lord
By the Ammanford Fire Brigade.Sources
A full history of Ammanford fire station can be found on the Ammanford Fire Station website, from which the fire stories above, including photographs, have been drawn. The Ammanford Fire Station website is designed by former Ammanford fireman Derek Norman and is written with a true insiders' knowledge. Subjects covered include Fire Stories, Fund Raising, Community Fire Safety, Industrial Action and Retired Members.
Other sources consulted are:
WTH Locksmith,: Origins of Ammanford street names and some notable historical records, 2000, pages 105-107.
Amman Valley Chronicle.
South Wales Guardian.
Date this page last updated: August 24, 2010
