PATRICIA Moran may only have been a girl of eight at the time but she has special cause to remember the fire.
Her dad, the late John Heuze, ran Express Taxis on Manor Street parallel to Crown Street, and the family lived on the premises.
On the Christmas Day previously, a fire had accidentally started at their home and it had been gutted.
"I was upset because my bride doll was badly charred -- it's the kind of detail that matter to kids, isn't it," said Patricia, now 48 and living in Farnworth.
On the night of the Top Storey fire, one or two of the few survivors were brought into the taxi office nearby.
"Even though I was young I can remember that there seemed to be a lot happening all around," said Patricia.
"Then this man Pedro Gonzales, a club singer, was brought in. The Evening News took a picture of him in the office.
"The next day -- and it sounds awful now but it was typical of youngsters then -- my brother and I walked along the banks of the Croal and picked up bits of jewellery that were lying about."
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