Whiskey Au Go Go Fire
| Date | March 8, 1973 |
|---|---|
| Venue | Whiskey Au Go Go |
| Location | Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°27′20″S 153°01′55″E / 27.4555°S 153.0319°ECoordinates: 27°27′20″S 153°01′55″E / 27.4555°S 153.0319°E |
| Type | Fire |
| Cause | Firebomb |
| Deaths | 15 |
| Convicted |
|
The Whiskey Au Go Go fire was a fire that occurred at 2.10 am on Thursday 8 March 1973, in the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia that killed 15 people. The building is at 356 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley (on the corner of Amelia Street and St Paul's Terrace) and still stands as of 2017.
The building was firebombed, resulting in the deaths of 15 patrons and staff.
The fire began with the ignition of two 23-litre drums of diesel fuel in the building's foyer. The drums were thrown into the foyer, then ignited by a lit torch thrown through the open door. When ignited the burning diesel sent carbon monoxide up to the club's main room on the first floor. Large quantities of grease had been smeared over the stairs of the building's rear fire escape. The door of the fire escape had also been greased. The fifteen people killed had died of asphyxiation as they struggled to open the greased fire escape doors. Police believed that had they been able to open the doors they would have slipped and fallen down the steel stairs. A fire brigade officer reported hearing screams from behind the closed door as firemen tried to smash it down. Other reports indicated that fuel seeped from the two 23-litre drums into the carpet of the foyer, causing a fireball to engulf the stairway.
About 100 patrons, bar staff and entertainers had been in the club at the time of ignition. Many escaped by jumping from broken windows onto an awning and dropping 15 feet to the ground.
Of the six person band, two musicians were killed. Also killed was the female singer they accompanied. Jennifer Denise Davie, a drinks waitress employed in the bar, also died.
James Richard Finch, 29, and John Andrew Stuart, 33, were arrested 12 hours apart in suburban Jindalee on the weekend after the fire. On the Saturday the Queensland Government had offered a $50,000 reward for information on the bombing. Police arrested one man at the Jindalee house when he pulled a knife on them during an interview on the Saturday. Later they returned to the location and eventually located the second man hiding in nearby scrub on Sunday morning.
In 1966 Finch had been sentenced to 14 years prison after being found guilty of malicious wounding with a firearm and carrying an unlicensed pistol. Finch had fired two shots during an altercation near a petrol station in Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney, injuring two men. At that trial Finch was described by police as "an active young criminal and associate of the most violent criminals in Sydney." Finch had been paroled after serving seven years of that sentence.
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