Bush-fire in Sydney Road

In March 1915, Sydney suffered dozens of outbreaks of bush-fire, made worse by strong winds. On 8-10 March 1915, several fires broke out in Manly. “Three shops in Sydney Road, on the hill overlooking the harbour, were burned to the ground,” reported the Sydney Morning Herald on 9 March, “and only the walls remained standing.” The severe nor’wester helped to fan the flames, and the firemen, who came from Manly Fire Station, then located in its original premises in Sydney Road near the Corso, were powerless to deal with the outbreak. The tram-way was cut for a while, and all the telephone wires were severely damaged. Mr C E Guest’s grocer’s shop on Sydney Road near William Street was one of those destroyed, and damage exceeded £5000, a large sum for those days. The cause of the outbreak was not discovered. A second fire broke out elsewhere in Balgowlah, but it was contained by the firemen with the assistance of Senior-Constable Holtsbaum and Constable Hand.
Perhaps it was no coincidence that when a new Fire Station for Manly was built after the First World War, it was sited very near to the spot where Guest’s grocer’s shop had stood in Sydney Road.