There were two unlicensed bars on the top two floors of 18 Denmark Place: The Spanish Rooms, a late night bar frequented by locals, including Irish and Jamaican immigrants; and Rodo's, also known as El Dandy, a salsa club popular with South American immigrants. Access to both of these bars was obtained by shouting up from the street below in order to obtain a key. The only way into both of these clubs was through a locked front door and up some stairs leading to a landing. Access to the club on the lower floor was via this landing and access to the club on the upper floor was via a fire escape enclosed with plywood. Both bars, being unlicensed, were obscured from the outside world by boarded up windows and the door on Denmark Street that led to the fire escape was bolted shut. The Metropolitan Police were aware of the clubs and were planning to shut them both down on Monday 18 August. A farewell party was being thrown over the weekend. On the night of 16 August, John Thompson, a Scottish-born petty criminal aged 42, entered The Spanish Rooms and drank there. He believed that the bartender had overcharged him for the drink. After fighting with the bartender he was ejected from the building and the door was locked behind him. Thompson found a 2-gallon container outside the club, hailed a taxi and then travelled to a 24-hour petrol station in Camden where he filled the container with petrol. He then returned to 18 Denmark Place, poured the petrol through the letterbox of the front door and put a lit piece of paper through.
The fire
Fire quickly took hold in the premises owing to the largely timber construction of the building. Both bars were badly damaged. People could not escape easily due to the boarded up windows, the locked fire escape and general lack of fire safety precautions owing to the bars' unlicensed status. The fire burned quickly through the wooden staircase, destroying the main entrance and exit to the bars. Some patrons tried to escape via the back door but found that this was locked. Others smashed windows and jumped out onto the street below. On Denmark Street there was a music shop that backed onto the clubs and some patrons were found here trapped behind the security shutters. One firefighter managed to rescue six people from this area. When firefighters were called to the fire at around 03:30 they could see smoke seeping from the shuttered windows. When an attempt was made to force the locked front door open they were showered with sparks and embers and were forced to retreat. Once firefighters were able to access the front door it took four minutes to break it down – behind it they found that the staircase was completely on fire. The speed of the fire was so rapid that many of the bar patrons died where they were sitting or standing. An officer from the London Fire Brigade described the scene:
Aftermath
In May 1981, Thompson was convicted on a specimen charge of murdering one of the victims, Archibald Campbell and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died of lung cancer on 16 August 2008, the 28th anniversary of the fire.
