Caption: 250 firemen fight london rice warehouse blaze . Engines from every one of the 60 stations in the LCC were called to a huge fire at St Georges ' s Wharf , a rice warehouse of Carbutt and Company , Ltd . in Shad thames , Bermondsey , An emergency call was made and every available appliance was sent . About 250 men were concentrated on the outbreak . Firemen wore gas masks against the dense smoke from the rice , and a giant turntable water tower was brought into the operation . It was feared that a wall would collapse . Photo shows , water from the hose pipes cascading over the burning building . 1 April 1936