On Wednesday evening, 2nd December 1885, at about 8 p.m., a Rushden man walking in North Street, saw a bright light through the second-floor windows of the warehouse of C. Perkins. The building was on fire. It was two years old, three storeys, brick built with a slated roof, 70 feet long and 20 feet wide.

The Rushden Volunteer Fire Brigade arrived with the engine, but the fire had got such a hold that all efforts to save the place were in vain. After salvaging what they could, the attentions of the Brigade were directed to saving the adjoining cottages. There was not a good water supply, but even with plentiful water, the strong wind would have prevented the building being saved. By 10 p.m. it was completely gutted. Luckily the direction of the wind was away from other buildings.

A man well-known in Rushden was met by a local policeman, running away with a pair of boots. He was charged with larceny.