Colin Townsley
{{Short description|British firefighter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Colin Townsley
| honorific_suffix = GM
| image = File:Colin Townsley Plaque.jpg
| caption = Memorial plaque
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|05|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = Newton Abbot, Devon, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|11|18|1942|05|22|df=y}}
| death_place = King's Cross Station, London, England
| death_cause = Smoke inhalation
| monuments = King's Cross Station
| nationality = British
| occupation = Station Officer, Red Watch, Soho Fire Station; Firefighter
| years_active = 1964–1987
| employer = London Fire Brigade
| title = Station Officer
| spouse = {{marriage|Linda Creese|1968}}
| children = 2
| awards = George Medal, Chief Officer’s Commendation
}}
Colin James Townsley, {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GM}} (22 May 1942 – 18 November 1987) was an English station officer in charge of Red Watch at Soho Fire Station. He was one of 31 people who were killed in the King's Cross fire in 1987 and the only firefighter to die. He died from smoke inhalation while assisting passengers to escape from the fire and was posthumously awarded the Chief Officer's Commendation and the George Medal for his bravery.
Early and personal life
Townsley was born on 22 May 1942 to James and Emma Townsley in Newton Abbot, Devon. He married Linda Creese in Leicester in 1968 and they had two daughters – Sarah (b. 1969) and Sally (b. 1976).{{cite web| url= https://www.londonremembers.com/subjects/colin-j-townsley-g-m-station-officer|title=Colin J. Townsley G.M., Station Officer|website=londonremembers.com}}
King's Cross fire
Townsley was the station officer in charge of Red Watch at Soho Fire Station, London. He was in charge of the first fire engine to arrive at the King's Cross fire on 18 November 1987 and was the most senior officer at the scene.{{cite news|url= https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/king-s-cross-fire-memorial-survivors-and-victims-families-say-memories-still-fresh-as-they-pay-tribute-30-years-on-a3694911.html |title= King's Cross fire memorial: Survivors and victims' families say memories still 'fresh' as they pay tribute 30 years on |newspaper=Evening Standard |author=Hatty Collier|date=18 November 2017}} Townsley had entered the Underground with a colleague to assess the situation.
Witnesses said a firefighter wearing a white helmet, believed to be Townsley, had been telling passengers to evacuate just before the fatal flashover.{{cite web|url= https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/museum/history-and-stories/historical-fires-and-incidents/the-kings-cross-fire-1987/ | title=The King's Cross fire|website=London Fire Brigade}}
Crews found Townsley beside the badly burned body of a passenger at the steps leading up to the Pancras Road entrance of the station.{{cite web|url= https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/museum/history-and-stories/historical-fires-and-incidents/the-kings-cross-fire-1987/ | title=The King's Cross fire|website=London Fire Brigade}} Colleagues carried him out of the ticket hall and paramedics attempted unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41902389 |title=King's Cross fire: 'I was screaming in pain' |work=BBC News |author=Alice Evans & Clifford Thompson |date=18 November 2017}}
His funeral was held at St. Paul's Church in Covent Garden, with the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt. Rev. John Klyberg, paying tribute to Townsley's bravery and offering his sympathy to his widow and daughters. More than 3,000 fire fighters paid tribute to Townsley, with the appliance that took him to the fire carrying his body to his funeral.{{cite news|url= https://apnews.com/article/d61018509644efa38698e7e25ae44009 |title= Firefighter Who Died in Underground Fire Mourned |work=AP News |date=27 November 1987}}{{cite web|url= http://bufvc.ac.uk/tvandradio/lbc/index.php/segment/0148b00092004 |title=News report of funeral of fire officer Colin Townsley |work=British Universities Film and Video Council|date=November 1987}}
Aftermath of the fire
In the official inquiry into the fire, Sir Desmond Fennell said all the evidence suggested "Station Officer Townsley was overcome by smoke and fumes while trying to help the burned passenger…a heroic act."{{cite web |url=https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/news/2017-news/kings-cross-fire-remembered-30-years-on/ | title=King's Cross fire remembered 30 years on |work=London Fire Brigade|date=9 July 2018}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theisrm.org/documents/Fennel%20(1988)%20Investigation%20Intointo%20the%20Kings%20Cross%20Fire.pdf |title=Investigation into the King's Cross Underground Fire |author=Desmond Fennell |work=The Department of Transport |date=21 October 1988 |access-date=15 December 2021}}
Townsley was posthumously awarded the Chief Officer's Commendation and the George Medal for his actions in the fire.{{cite web|url= https://www.firehouse.com/home/news/10524896/the-kings-cross-underground-fire |title= The Kings Cross Underground Fire |work=Firehouse | date=14 February 2004}} His citation for the George Medal notes that "He displayed selfless devotion to duty and gallantry of a high order when faced with conditions of extreme danger". It goes on to say that with a "total disregard for his own safety", and even without breathing equipment, Townsley remained within the booking hall area "to assist as best he could those seeking to escape until he was overcome by toxic fumes".{{cite web|url= https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/11917267.george-medal-for-fireman-townsley/ |title= George Medal For Fireman Townsley|date=25 May 1989|work=Herald Scotland}}{{cite web|url= https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/51745/supplement/6217/data.pdf |title=Awarded the George Medal|work=The Gazette |date=25 May 1989}}
The fire engine that took Townsley and his colleagues to the tragedy, and which later carried his coffin, has been restored and dedicated to his memory. It is now kept at Chiswick Fire Station as a memorial. At Soho Fire Station, Townsley's space remains empty in his memory and Chiswick Fire Station also has a memorial to him.{{cite web|url= http://chiswickherald.co.uk/chiswick-fire-station-houses-memorial-to-tragic-kings-cross-fire-p8342-95.htm |title= Chiswick Fire Station houses memorial to tragic Kings Cross Fire | work=Chiswick Herald |author= Áine McGinty |date=10 August 2018}}
Townsley's name is included on the plaque at King's Cross that memorialises the victims of the fire which was provided by the King's Cross Disaster Fund.{{cite web |title=Plaque: King's Cross fire – names |url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/king-s-cross-fire-names |website=londonremembers.com}}
References
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Category:Recipients of the George Medal
Category:People from Newton Abbot
Category:London Fire Brigade personnel