Thenceforth, the police could do nothing beyond keeping at a distance the crowds which soon gathered, and thus clear a space for the operations of the fire brigade.
No.

412 was thoroughly gutted.

Not a shred of the building remained except the crumbling walls at front and back.

Its neighbors were in little better case, and the firemen devoted their efforts mainly toward keeping the disaster within bounds.
One thing was certain.

No human being had escaped from out of that doomed habitation.