Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1878-07-03
THE DAYTON FIRE.
A Fierce Blaze, Attended with
Loss of Life.

! fire broke out in Dayton which re-
suited in the total destruction of the
residence of George p. Randall and
| the death of Mrs. William William
son. The premises are on Main
street five or six hundred feet from
the bridge on Carson river. The
building was one-story structure of
several rooms, and a corral, with
| sheds, extended from near the house
to the rear end of the lot The
house was occupied by Mrs. William
son, whose husband is at Aurora, and
Charles Box and wife, one or two
rooms being also used by Mr.. Ran
dali, whose family is at present in
California. Thirty or forty feet west
Of where the residence stood Mr..
Randall has blacksmith shop, but
an intervening building filled all the
space except about twenty feet. To
| the eastward was the residence of NJ.
W. Stiles, and the space from that on
to the bridge was filed with cord
wood ranked up close to the road and
extending back considerable dis
lance.
AT the time the fire was discovered
some men were heating wagon tires
in the rear of the blacksmith shop,
as they have been accustomed to do
for years, and it is supposed the gale
then blowing carried sparks into a
ton or two of hay in the rear end of
the shed. 1t famed up almost in
stantly after the smoke was first seen,
and running rapidly along the sheds
soon reached the dwelling. The
alarm sounded on the bell at the en-
gine-house brought people hurrying
from every direction; the engine and
hose cart were quickly dragged to
the scene Of the confagratioD, and a
stream was turned on within two or
three minutes after the first cry of
"fre.' Meantime all the furniture in
the front rooms and such others as
could be entered had been carried
out, but by the time water was turned
on every room was invaded by the
fiery element. About this time the
dread intelligence passed from lip to
lip that Mrs. Williamson was still in
the house, but all could see that it
was beyond human power to save
her.
1t was plain that no part of the
burning building could be saved, and
the main effort was directed toward
preventing the spread of the flames
to adjoining property. This was
done by playing upon the burning
building for time, partially reducing
the extreme heat, making it possible
10 get near the exposed property, and
then wetting the residence of Mr..
Stiles, distant fifty or sixty feet to the
eastward. While this was going on
bucket brigade was wetting down
the building on the west side, which
was on fire once or twice, we believe.
The heat was intense, and it was
necessary a portion Of the time to
protect the men holding the nozzle
with wet blankets. The people
worked bravely and with such deter
mination that the fire was confined to
the premises first attacked. Had the
residence of Mr.. Stiles been burned
the fire would have caught in the
acres of cord-wood extending from
that point TO the river, and the flames
would have licked up everything in
the direction the wind was blowing,
including the $4,000 bridge across
the Carson river, and most likely the
large amount of wood on the south
side of the road.
When the fire had spent its fury
and the building was burned to the
ground the stream was played upon
the ruins until it was possible to re-
move the crisped remains of Mrs.
Williamson, which were taken to the
engine-hous The remains were
found where bedroom had stood,
and the motive which led the poor
woman to penetrate so far into the
burning structure will forever remain
unknown. She had been out a time
or two, and had given her three or
four year old child in charge of some
one. It is possible, however, that in
the excitement of the occasion she