Fifty two years to the day that fire hero died... he gets the honour he deserves
22.10.2023 - 13:37
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The alarm was raised at 3.47pm on October 22nd 1971. Smoke spotted escaping from a basement rapidly became a raging blaze engulfing an entire factory. It destroyed a five-storey spinning mill and changed one family's life forever.
Forty fire engines converged on Texas Mill in Ashton-under-Lyne that day and a fire report later said: "the dense smoke was severely punishing the crews who were penetrating the building at various levels." At 6pm "without warning" a section of the upper floors collapsed "carrying away the external (fire) escape" as two crew stood on it tackling the fire.
A sub officer was partially buried and dug out from the broken and twisted escape. But firefighter Norman Nolan, who was with him could not be found. The two men had been using a hose through a fourth-floor door to douse flames.
Despite further falls of masonry and the extreme hazard of the fire several attempts were made to find Firefighter Nolan before it was too dangerous to do so. His body was not found until just before 6am on the third day of the incident.
During the dramatic incident another firighter had to be rescued by a colleague after he was overcome by fumes. Crews also carried a member of staff at the mill to safety after he went back into the building to retrieve his coat and became trapped. The mill, dating from 1906, and used for processing man-made fibres, was destroyed and fire crews were at the scene for several days.
Mr Nolan was 28, and married with two children. He was based at Blackley Fire Station but had responded with crews from throughout the region due to the size of the blaze.
Today (Sunday October 22nd) a red plaque was unveiled in his honour at Ashton-under-Lyne fire station. Mr Nolan’s family and friends, as
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