Fire at a construction site in Oxford Street, London, 14 February 1955. The building was under reconstruction following war damage. The open end was covered with tarpaulin sheets which were accidentally ignited with an oxyacetylene flame at second floor level. Shown here are two oxyacetylene cylinders brought down by firefighters from the second floor and placed in an emergency dam for cooling. The dam was quickly constructed with four scaling ladders and a salvage sheet.