On this day 25 years ago, on the morning of Friday, 20 November 1992, a fire broke out at Windsor Castle.
Firefighters from six counties, including Berkshire, London, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire were sent to the scene to tackle the blaze.
Firefighters battled for around nine hours using natural barriers such as substantial walls and cutting fire breaks in the thick lead-covered roofs. Thanks to their skill, courage and tenacity they succeeded in bringing the main fire under control shortly afterwards, although the teams battled for another three hours before the fire was finally extinguished.
Group Manager Neil Carter, who attended the incident said: “I remember this incident well as I had only been in the job for about a year when we got the call out via the radio while we were out in the pump in Maidenhead.
“Although the fire was challenging for our crews, we had a working knowledge of the castle and its layout as a result of familiarisation visits and exercises. Our firefighters worked well with the castle fire service who provided a valuable pathfinding service for our BA teams.
“There was severe damage caused by the fire, with firefighting hampered by the many hidden voids in the building. The incident was however managed safely so thankfully there were no serious injuries to staff at the Castle or our Firefighters”.
