NOTES ON
1961, August 9th -
Foster Clark's catches fire
http://comp.uark.edu/~dsears/photos/Eileen61fosterclark/
As
far as I was concerned, as a child growing up in Hart Street, Foster Clark’s
was a huge building that never seemed to do much. There was no large flow of traffic, no hoards of people, just a
large quiet building. I suppose all the
entrances were on the opposite side of the building, on Barker Road, and it was
essentially just a warehouse. We occasionally
tried to look over walls, but there was nothing to see, and windows were too
high. So it caught fire. It was summer and we were at home. Mum called.
The street was full of men in uniforms, holding out their arms to keep
us back. There was smoke. I don’t remember flames. Walls were collapsing. There was an aftermath to clear up, but we
didn’t notice much. I suspect that for
someone, the event was devastating. For
us, life went on.