Mexborough and Swinton Times August 23, 1929
Fat Works Fire.
Conisboro Blaze.
Early Yesterday morning a fire broke out in the press department of the fat refining works of Messrs. Braime and Cooper, of Conisborough. The Conisborough Fire Brigade were soon on the scene. Some delay arose, however owing to the difficulty of locating the hydrants, which during the week had been covered up in the course of road repairs. The firemen, however, had a fair idea where the hydrants were, and were soon at work. Meanwhile Mr. H. Cooper of the firm concerned, and some of the workmen, had removed a number of barrels of oil from the ground floor. The building has a concrete floor and an asbestos roof, and this was partly responsible for limiting the outbreak. After about two hours work the brigade subdued the flames, but a good deal of damage was done to machinery. A portion of the roof collapsed, and in several places the walls were weakened and bulged dangerously.
The firemen were handicapped by the smoke and smell from the burning material ‘they had no gas masks, and the stenchwas at times so offensive that the firemen had to work in quick relays.
Under the ground floor were two large tanks containing many tons of oil, and the firemen succeeded in saving these. The amount of damage was considerable.
The cause of the outbreak is not definitely known. A similar fire occurred at these works about seven years ago