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A OBSTRUCTIVE FIRE.(\s]1 HrKnlihl'a Photograph Oallor y and ' Other Oeenpants of the Second Story of Wilson's Block the Victim*. JThere has not been any fire in Cen-tralia for some time, and our people had j , begun to feel perfect security from vis-! itations of the fire fiend, when on Tues-1 day night last at seven o’clock the harsh clanging of the fire alarm bell and the shrill blasts of the whistles aroused them to a realization of the• j fact that there is no such thing as perfect safety.The fire broke out in Frank Mc-• Knight’s photograph gallery in the sec-t ond story of Wilson’s block on Broad-' way. No one was In the gallery at the f time and the other roomers in the sec-1 ond story happened to be away. The 31 flames, therefore, had gained such v headway before the alarm was sounded 1 that the rear rooms of the gallery were 1 all ablaze and the entire upper story t was filled with dense, suffocating s smoke when the firemen arrived. The- building is a mere shell, having been built between the brick wall of the Odd Fellows’ block on one side and Hauss-ler’s block on the other, the front and rear walls being brick, and all the other- j partitions made of wood. In additionto this the gallery in the rear was a wooden structure surmounting a frann-1‘ work of scaffolding. This was partly •v covered by iron, but as the fire broke out on the inside the iron outside did y but little good in staying the flames, a When the condition of the building is taken into consideration, when we is think of the fact that it was built ap-;,i patently to encourage the progress of a tire, the difficulty of extinguishing it will be at once known,especially as the rooms were all filled with thick, unbearable smoke which no one could stand for an instant.The fire company arrived in short *s ! order and had two streams of water playing on the tire, which soon began re to show signs of weakening. The two ig streams were kept playing vigorously for an hour, and during all this time v the fire would show itself in new places, under the floor, above the ceiling, under the root, or in the many places where flames will penetrate. Several times ’ the fire was declared extinguished, but 1 the boys did not leave the posts of duty ' ‘ until there was no vestige of lire any- V where and no chance for the smolder-^t i mg sparks to be rekindled into destruc-i°. ive activity.
Newspaper Details
Centralia Democrat
Centralia, Illinois, US
Fri, Oct 14, 1887
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 21 Aug 2024
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