Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1894-04-12
FATAL MILWAUKEE, FIRE.
,,ar of Men Killed at the
Burning of the Davidso n
Theater.

MILWAUKEE,, Wis, April 9.--The Da-
;Json Theater burned at 4:3O this
lining. and at least eight lives and
nnrhaps ten were lost.
The fire started in the kitchen of the
& hotel, about o'clock. The kitchen was
looatpd on the south side of the top
tloor and the flames, as they shot out of
.Lo south window, were first discovered
w. policeman on Third Street,
near the St. Paul depot. The alarm
gas sent in from box 525, located at
the depot. 1t reached fire head
crarters at 4:l5 a. NJ. Engine
companies l, 2, 4 and 10; trucks l and 2,
chemical engines l and 2, the water
tnwer and the fireboat James Foley re-
ssnonded. The house of engine compa-
~ No. is located on Second Street,
tro blocks from the theater. The same
house is Assistant Chief Janssen's head
nnarters, and he came out at the same
lime as the engine company did.
Ry the time Assistant Chief Jansen
and his man got to the top of the floor
the flames had spread from the kitchen
"a some Of the rear rooms which are To-
ctpd between the ceiling Of the theater
and the roof of the building. 1t was
fierce light, for the flames had gained
GREAT Roadway. Several lines Of hose
we're pulled up through the outside.
widows and had just been placed
% as to play on the flames,
rhen without moments warning,
j thp ceiling of the theater gave way and
+bp men were precipitated to the pit of
the theater. The falling Of the ceiling
and the rooms which it supported also
carried down large section of the roof.
There were some men at work on the
rOofand they, too, were precipitated to
tbe bottom. Those who were at work
in the passage-way met their death al
most like rats in trap. Thew
we're penned in the narrow passage
g2v which is shown in an ACCOMMODATING
diagram. The floor on which they
stood was supported by the ceiling Of
the auditorium, and above them was the
heavy roof. The fire had been burning
such short time that they did not sup
pose the supports of the ceiling had
been damaged sufficiently to make their
position dangerous. There were fire.
men and insurance patrolmen at work
in the auditorium Of the theater and
they were warned by the cracking of
the ceiling supports. They had barely
time to flee for their lives, however,
and some of them were injured by fall
Ing pieces of wood. There was no such
warning for the men who were with
Jansen. Those NHo escaped say that
the first intimation they had was the
sinking of the floor.
When the broken ceiling and roof
landed in the parquette the place be-
came yeritable furnace, and it was
into this the men were precipitated.
Some we're pinned under a mass of
debris that weighed several tons.
There were at least fifteen men in the
passage way when it went down. They
belonged to engine companies 3, 4, sand
II. As usual, Assistant Chief Jansen
wasn the thickest of the fight, working
hand in hand with the men.
The most thrilling incident in connec-
ton witnthe Davidson Theater fire was
the rescue of John Crowley, who for
seven hours remained under the debris
Of the fallen roof and ceiling and was
finally taken out alive. He suffered
more than the agonies Of death during
tl0seseyen hours.
From $50 until 1914 clock his COM
radeS'worked like heroes to rescue him,
and when he was carried out on the
shoulders of six firemen shout of Joy
went up from the crowd.