The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-05-22
Fire Department.
EATON, o., May 10, 1884

EATON, w., May IL, 1904.
To the Council Of the Village Of Eaton:
GENTLEMEN:-In accordance with the
law concerning the fire department., !
hereby submit my report on the fire of
the 18th inst.
LIST. Location of fire: On the alley be-
tween Somers and Decatur streets, run
ming from Cherry to Maple streets.
I'd. Discovery of fire and by whom;
date, hour, minute: Discovered by
Frank Mitchell or Thomas Noe, at 5a.
M, May II.
Sd. Construction: One building,
one story 16 by % feet; one two story
building Is by 80 feet; two buildings u
story, IS by % feet, one lumber yard; all
4th. How occupied: Two buildings
as woodhouses, one as a carpenter shop,
and one as a stable. Damaged buildings
as stables.
9th. Name of owner: One woodhouse
owned by Mrs. Minnie Mitchell; carpen-
ter shop and lumber yard by VIM. Nc
Cabe; one woodhouse by F. G. Thompson;
one stable by VIM. Morrow; damaged
building by Elan Fisher and Peter
Straw.
9th. Cause and where started: Cause,
incendiary in all probability. Started
in the woodhouse of Mrs. Minnie Mitch
ell.
18th. Loss: Mrs. Minnie Mitchell,
$3.50; VIM. McCabe, $4,000; F.G. Thomp-
son, $3.50; VIM. Morrow, 5000; Elan
Fisher, $50; Peter Straw, $25.
Sth. Insurance: Mrs. Minnie Mitch
ell, $3.50; VIM. McCabe, $1,000; F. G..
Thompson, $50. VIM. Morrow, Elan
Fisher and Peter Straw no insurance.
9th. Cause of delay, if any: There was
no delay in getting apparatus out and
hose laid to fire considering that the
company is short in men and newly or
gained. There was a delay, however,
of twenty-five minutes from the time of
the alarm until water was thrown from
the nozzle, for which several reasons are
given by different persons and which l
think the Council should investigate,
and would therefore prefer not to give
my opinion until such investigation.
10th. Time of leaving fire: 9:10 a. m.
18th. Officer in command: Jas. A.
McCabe until fire had made considerable
progress. VIM. McCabe the balance of
the time.
18th. General remarks: The company
had a line of hose ready to throw water
in about ten minutes after the alarm was
given and at that time the fire was con-
fined to the woodhouse where it started
and was burning along the edge of roof
and side of the Morrow stable and car
pentershop, and had water been sent on
promptly the loss would probably have
been the woodhouse, where it started,
destroyed, and the Morrow stable and
carpenter shop damaged. Something
must be done to improve the time of
commencing work on a fire, as ten min
utes at the start is worthhours afterward.
L also would bring to the notice of the
Council that we need about two hundred
feet more of hose, as W. are unable to
reach more than one and one-half squares
with two streams, and two streams are
indispensable to protect property fully
and eXtinguish most fires. Two sections
of the old hose burst during the fi.e.
Owing to the company not being full
number we were in need of more help
and 1 requested a sufficient number of
men to assist and promised them the
same pay as the regular firemen.
Owing to the fact that my property
was one of the buildings burned, 1 was
engaged in removing the most valuable
contents in the early stages of the fire,
leaving the department in the hands of
the neXt officer in command.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM MCCABE,
Chief of Department.