In the early hours of 16 August 1980, a fire tore through 18 Denmark Place, a narrow alley just off Denmark Street in the heart of Soho — an area long known as London's Tin Pan Alley, famous for its music shops, musicians and recording studios.
Above street level were two unlicensed clubs, including El Hueco and Rodo's/El Dandy. They were hidden late-night spaces, where immigrant communities — particularly Latin American and Spanish Londoners, alongside people from other backgrounds — gathered to drink, dance, listen to music and spend time among their own communities.
On that Saturday morning, a man who had been thrown out of one of the clubs following an argument returned carrying petrol. He poured it through the letterbox and set the building alight.
The consequences were catastrophic.
There were around 150 people inside. The building had inadequate fire safety, escape routes were restricted and the fire spread with extraordinary speed. Some people tried to escape through windows, while others became trapped inside.
Thirty-seven people died and 23 were injured. The victims came from different backgrounds and nationalities, with many being Spanish or Latin American. The tragedy became one of the deadliest fires in London's post-war history.
Hernan Vargas — “El Flaco”
Among the victims was Hernan Vargas Jaramillo, a Colombian man who was just 22 years old, according to later civil-registration research. His name appears among the 37 victims of the Denmark Place fire.
But Hernan was more than just a name on a list.
Research into London's early salsa scene identifies him as “El Flaco” — meaning “Skinny” — and as the resident DJ at El Hueco. According to the detailed Murder Mile research into the fire, Hernan had previously DJed at El Escondite, an underground club on Hanway Street, before the club moved to Denmark Place and became El Hueco.
On the night of the fire, Hernan was behind the decks playing salsa, surrounded by the music he loved.
According to the same research, Hernan had a personal collection of vinyl records stored in the attic. When the fire broke out, he reportedly died while trying to save his treasured records.
That detail gives us a glimpse of the person behind the name: a young Colombian Londoner whose life revolved around music, dancing and salsa, and who was part of the emerging Latin American nightlife scene in London during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
His story is particularly important because Latin music and Latin American communities were already helping to shape London's underground cultural life decades before today's much more visible Latin scene existed.
A tragedy documented in London's history
The Denmark Place fire has since appeared in historical accounts of London's disasters.
Historian John Withington included the fire in his book London's Disasters: From Boudicca to the Banking Crisis, published in 2011. The book records the horrifying scenes encountered by firefighters, including victims who had died where they were sitting or standing.
Contemporary Spanish-language reporting also documented the tragedy. El País reported from London in August 1980 on the Colombian community connected with the clubs and the aftermath of the fire.
Yet despite the scale of the tragedy, the Denmark Place fire gradually faded from public memory.
For many years, it received remarkably little attention compared with other major London tragedies. Later writers have questioned why the deaths of so many people — many of them immigrants and members of marginalised communities — were so easily forgotten.
The man responsible
The fire was deliberately started by John Thompson, following an argument at the club.
Thompson was arrested, convicted of murder in 1981 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in prison on 16 August 2008 — exactly 28 years after the fire.
Remembering the 37
Today, Denmark Street and the surrounding area have been transformed. The original building at 18 Denmark Place is gone, replaced by the constantly changing landscape of central London and the redeveloped area around Denmark Street.
But the history remains.
A memorial now commemorates the 37 people from multicultural London who lost their lives in the arson attack on 16 August 1980.
And among those 37 was Hernan Vargas Jaramillo — “El Flaco” — a young Colombian DJ who helped bring salsa into London's underground nightlife.
His story connects the Denmark Place tragedy not only to the history of London's fires and forgotten disasters, but also to the history of Latin London itself.
Before today's salsa clubs, Latin festivals, DJs, restaurants and cultural organisations, there were young Latin Americans building communities in the city through music, friendship and nightlife.
Hernan was one of them.
His name should not simply appear on a list of 37 victims.
He was a DJ.
He was Colombian.
He was part of London's early Latin music scene.
And he should be remembered.
We remember Hernan Vargas “El Flaco”.
We remember the 37.
Latin London's history is London's history.
