On 9 June 1902, a fire at the General Electric Company offices in Queen Victoria Street led to the deaths of ten employees, including nine young women aged between 14 and 18. A coroner’s inquest was immediately organized to ascertain the cause of death and a number of witnesses were called to give evidence. This article explores the evidence gathered at the inquest, focusing on the testimony of four witnesses: the spectator, employee, survivor and fireman. Their testimony exposed defects in the company’s attitude towards fire safety, London’s building bye-laws and the capital’s fire protection. It subsequently weighs this evidence against other accounts of the fire as featured in newspapers and other contemporary texts. Our conclusions reveal significant variations between the coroner’s verdict and the media’s analysis of the fire, with particular focus given to accounts that sought to identify and hold to account those who were deemed publicly responsible for the failings to rescue the victims.

1902 年 6 月 9 日，通用电气公司位于维多利亚女王街的办公室发生火灾，导致 10 名员工死亡，其中包括 9 名 14 至 18 岁的年轻女性。立即组织验尸官调查以确定死因和死因。的证人被传唤作证。本文探讨了在调查中收集的证据，重点关注四名证人的证词：旁观者、雇员、幸存者和消防员。他们的证词暴露了该公司对消防安全、伦敦建筑条例和首都消防的态度存在缺陷。随后，它将这些证据与报纸和其他当代文本中对火灾的其他描述进行了权衡。我们的结论揭示了验尸官的判决与媒体对火灾的分析之间存在显着差异，