Los Angeles daily herald., 1884-10-22
A FIRE.
A Police Officers Wife Bad
ly Burned by Coal-0il.
A BABY ESCAPES suFFOcATIoS.
A Residence Totally Destroyed---An
Adjacent Building SeOrched.
Hopes Tint the Lady
will Recover.

bad coal oil explosion occurred yester
day, the result Of which was the Destruction
OF considerable property, the painful burn
ing of a lady aud the narrow escape OF a
baby from snfocatlon. The scene OF the
disaster was at 7i9 hin street. the residence
of Captain Louis Froelieh. the second othcef
Of the police force Of this city,
Mrs. Froellch, at about twelve O'Clock yes.
tefday. started to prepare the MONDAY meal
for her husband aud the children. Finding
some diincnlty In starting n fire In the sto'e,
she made a liberal use Of coal oil. The FIRE
still not burning brIskly, she poured some
mnre oil. from large can, into the stove.
There must have been some Are In the stove,
for there was terrific explosion, and the
burning oil was scattered all over Mrs. Froe
itch and over the apartment. In second
the Iady's clothing ignited, aud together
with the room Was enyeloped III naines. ohe
ran outside the house, but remembering the
fact that her thirteen months old baby wac
I'm the burning edifce she rushed back 10
save II. Al this moment her son, T. X. Froe
lich who was al the stable, saw the hhmeh
and rushed to the rescue. lie got his mother
out Of the building and endeayored to cover
her with u blanket. She broke away IRON
from him. aud running to tub 81 water
threw herself into H. Young Froeltch then
returned to the house to rescue the baby.
but found n neighb0r, Mr. FRASER, who had
arrived shortly after the fire started, com
ing out Of the house with the baby
In his arms. The rescue of the baby wac
fortunate and peculiar, Mr, Frazier rushed
into room that was lied with smoke and
flame and made an effort to save sone Of
the furniture. lie made dash for the bed
and Ia selling the bed clothing he encoun.
tered child, which was snugly ensconeed
between the blankets In n manner to protect
II from the Sitting smoke The baby was
not burned at all.
In the meantime Mrs Froelich was con
yeyed to the house OF u neighbor and DR.,
Wise arriving. made an examination OF hef
injuries. She was found to be badly burned
about the neck, face, hands, arms aud lower
limbs. Her stomach and chest were pro
teeted By her corset aud were barely
scprched. At first II was Thought That her
injuries would prove fatal and reports to
that effect spread rapidly. The physicians
In attendance, however, alter etreitl ex-
animation. express very fair hopes of her re
covery. Mrs FraeliGh was taken to the
house Of Mr.. D. weleh, a near neighbar,
where she Is now resting quietly under
the tenderest and best oil treatment.
The baby is at the house of Mr.. Frazier. and
the rest OF the Captains children at Mr..
Morseh's. He Is the recipient of much sym
pnthy In his great aiiiietion, aud the neigh
bors vie with each other in endeavoring Ia
render him assistance
THE FIRE.
To return to the conhagration. The fire,
which caught In the kitchen, rapidly spread
to he remainder Of the house and rs the
structure was of wood and very dry, II
burned like finder. All efforts to save the
household furniture proved unavailing, and
the house aud Its contents were entirely de
stroyed The Captain valued his property
at $1,000, on which there WAS an insurance oi
$500 The house Of John Schumacher, ad
jaeent to Giptain Froelich's house, was
badly scorehed and damaged to more OF
less extent
The fire department was notified a.
quickly as possible and arrived promptly
The engines were unable to perform any
service owing to the fact that there was nt
water available for them. II water could
have been procured Schumachers houst
would have escaped without injury.
This fire teaches three lessons when have
heretofore been impressed upon the public
to wit; Coal oil Is II dangerous thing to start
n fire with n system Of fire alarm telegraphy
is II public necessity, and there should al
ways he a sufficient quantity OF water in the
mains to use In ease of fire.