1921 fire in Queen St Barraba
History Notes
Society members are facing a busy month and will need assistance with the markets and the Street stall later in the month. There will be two markets - the first on voting day and the second, to be more of a book fair, will be the following weekend. There may be more than books at the bookfair but the first market day will be our usual monthly market. Barbeques as usual.
The Tuesday between the markets will be the Annual General Meeting of the Society, open to everyone with an interest in our history. This meeting will mark 58 years since the Nandewar Historical Society was formed.
The fourth and final event for October will be the street stall to be held on 26th October - members assistance stocking the stall will be appreciated.
This week I have been checking on the big fire in Barraba which burnt the shops from Treloars building to the Babes in the Bush Shop beside the vacant block. Apparently, it was a spectacular fire fanned by a strong wind. The story was that it happened in 1918 in the middle of the night and was so hot that it cracked the glass in the windows of the shops across the street. The Witten diaries were consulted but no mention of a fire in town in the 1918 and 1919 volumes. After consulting a few people and someone looking up the internet and finding a fire in Barraba in 1921, I found the 1921 diary and found on 2"0 May, 1921, "big fire in town Barraba" thus that 1918 date is probably incorrect. Another surprise was the lack of diary information.
The Witten family were apparently very busy up in the granite with a rabbit plague and several bush fires. They were also adding to their settlement with new sheds and a new cottage and I suppose they were too busy to make further remarks about a town fire some hours away from their home.
At the time of the fire and several other fires in town there was no water supply and no fire brigade so there was little that anyone could do but watch their businesses burn. It was after the Royal Hotel burnt to the ground that action was taken and in the following years a fire brigade was formed.