I'm looking back at the blaze which brought Sunderland to a halt on a November night in the 1960s
A Sunderland fire which broke out 56 years ago this week remains one of the biggest in the city’s history.
The blaze in the Adrian Share (Interiors) Ltd, furniture store in town was so severe that fire engines from neighbouring areas had to speed into Sunderland to give help.
Crowds gathered to watch the drama
They were still dealing with the aftermath when the people of Sunderland woke the next day, in November 1969.
Staff from Shares spent the night trying to remove as much stock as they could from the building in Bridge Street.
Traffic was clogged right to the edge of town
By midnight, word got out of the drama and crowds had gathered outside St Mary’s RC Church to get a closer look.
Damage to the furniture store alone was estimated at around £100,000.
Traffic jams soon built up when the blaze at Shares on November 14, 1969 closed traffic routes. Cars and buses were backed up all the way to the edge of town.
Bridge Street was closed while firemen dealt with the fire which gutted the Shares store and severely damaged three other shops.
Fire experts later believed that the cost of the blaze in total was closer to £250,000.
The business was initially established in Crowtree Road in 1902 by Israel Share who had moved with his parents to Sunderland from Russia. His shop was run by a staff of three until after the First World War when he transferred to larger premises in High Street West.
Izzy’s business went from strength to strength and, after a few years moved yet again, this time into larger premises in Fawcett Street.
Eventually Izzy’s son, Adrian, joined the business and the success of the shop continued. In the 1960s, however, disaster struck when a fire badly damaged Share’s Fawcett Street shop.
The business soon re-opened in Bridge Street. Although in another town centre street, the shop still retained the name ’Shares of Fawcett Street’ as it was so well established throughout the area.
In November 1969, however, the Bridge Street premises were very badly damaged in the blaze.
Tell us if you remember the night when Bridge Street was alight. Email [email protected]