Boulder Fire

 

It is 1904 and you are standing in front of the fire station in Burt Street, Boulder (WA). A brick and stone building, Boulder Municipal Fire Station was built after water pumped from Mundaring Weir, arrived at Mt Charlotte in 1903. Between twenty and thirty volunteers man the brigade, which utilize horses (permanent staff and a motorized fire engine aren't introduced till 1915). Prior to fresh water arriving from Perth, and this new station being built, volunteers with buckets and axes ran the very first fire service. This humble beginning progressed to a well being tapped behind the electric light station, which supplied reticulated salt water for fire fighting.

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Okay, now move in time one hundred and ten years later to present time.

It is 2014 and the brick and stone building is still standing, but it is no longer a fire station. It has been converted into a cafe (Blaze Cafe) where you can be served breakfast. You are now inside the building, sitting down and tucking into your bacon and eggs as you gaze out the window across the street. What you see are the remains of a fire which took out two buildings. A laundromat and the dwelling next to it which were both completely gutted.

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Just after midnight a couple of weeks ago (September 11) a security guard discovered the fire. It took alerted firefighters -- who had to race several kilometres from the current fire station, built in 1971 and situated between Kalgoorlie and Boulder -- two hours to bring the raging blaze under control.

Initial damage assessment: half a million dollars.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers: 1800 333 000

Image Credit: 
Black & white photo titled: "Saint Patrick's Day Parade Burt St Boulder circa early 1910"
Reproduced courtesy Western Australian Museum - Kalgoorlie-Boulder
To see photo at full size