The fire which brought Sunderland to a standstill

Shares furniture store in Bridge Street was ablaze in November 1969. These were the dramatic scenes at midnight, and the next morning.

Transcript

00:00Sunderland was left reeling 55 years ago, when a fire raged through one of its town centre streets.

00:08Cher's furniture store was well alight, and the blaze was so severe, it brought traffic to a standstill, right to the edge of town.

00:18The flames spread to three other buildings, and at one point, every building in the street was under threat.

00:25Staff dashed to rescue whatever stock they could, and spectators gathered outside St Mary's Church at midnight to watch the drama unfold.

00:36Firemen came from neighbouring towns, and were still clearing up the next morning.

00:42Damage was estimated at a quarter of a million pounds.

00:46Tell us if you remember the 1969 fire, by emailing chris.cordner at nationalworld.com