The record-union., 1896-10-17
Also a Report That Sixteen Lives
Were Lost.
VerificatiOn of This Cannot be Known
Until Thorough Search of the
Ruins IS Made To-Day-The Fire
Attributed to the Combustible
Nature of the Stock in the Building
in Which the Flames Started.


astrous fire in this city for a long time
occurred this afternoon, having its be-
ginning in the building at 81 ST. Peter
street, occupied by Gilmore & Co., i'm
porters of chemicals. AS a result three
firemen are dead and a dozen more or
less seriously injured.
The dead are: Fireman Carpenter of
station No. /, King of Station No. T.
and La Porte of No IT.
The injured are: Captain Guthrie OF
Station No. /, Captain NORM of No 3,
Flremen Benoit and Reynolds of No. ),
Gordon of No. >, Mirault and Carest of
NO IL, Carpenter of Station No. / and
Branchau and Bennett of No 10.
IL is not yet possible to verify the re-
port that sixteen men We're in the loft
that went down, and possibly another
DAY VIII be necessary before the poSSi-
bly missing are definitely accounted for.
The fire IS attributed to the combus-
tible nature of the stock handled in the
building, and the blaze spread with
amazing rapidity. Before the first fire
apparatus had reached the building and
the hose could be laid, the flames from
the fourth story of the building were
reaching far out into the street The
building was a four-story stone
structure, and was completely envel-
oped in fire before the department be-
gan effective work. The chemicals on
the top floor burned with the fury of a
furnace and even after several streams
had been brought into play continued
to blaze with unabated fierceness.
Clouds of dense black smoke followed
the flames as the streams began TO take
effect, and the men on the extension lad
Ger We're for a large part of the time
enveloped in huge clouds of smoke
The flames spread to GoldStein's cigar
factory, and the smoke was seen COM
ing out of the windows of Kearney
Brothers tea warehouse and the building
occupied by JohnSton's Fluid Beef Ex-
tract Company.
The ARRIVAL of the water tower was
greeted With an outburst of cheers by
the enormous crowd of on-lookers. and
no time was lost in getting it to work
The fire then burst from window i'm
mediately under a ladder upon which
half a dozen firemen were standing.
thrustfng the hose nozzles here and
there. They did not finch, however. and
another great cheer went up as thew
dropped a step on the ladder, placing
themselves in the flames, with the hose
still in hand
Meanwhile another detachment was
busily engaged inside with axes break
ing out windows to let out smoke. No
sooner did the flames appear to be sub
sided in one place than they would break
out with redoubled fury in another. The
fire was got under control at O'clock
but was not subdued.
AT 2:3O o'clock the floor of the upper
loft in the Gilmore building gave way
without warning, and fell with a great
crash Sixteen men in all are said to
have been in the place at the time. and
as the smoke cleared for moment
shrieks could be heard. At first the
firemen We're unable to get inside, but
finally the reScuerS made headway. and
the first victim reached was Gordon Of
No D station. He was wedged down and
apparently dead. but when taken to the
open air he revived somewhat and was
quickly placed in an ambulance and
taken to a hospital. Next came Fire
man Benoit of No. 3 station, who was
taken away in a patrol wagon. Char
pentier was the third rescued, and he
was suffering internally Captain
Guthrie was also found in an uncon-
scious condition. He was taken to a.
hospital A fireman named MirauIt of
was so badly crushed that at first his
identity could not be esta blished Ed
mund La Porte was taken to the General
Hospital unconscious.
David Bennett of No. Is and Saul
Carest of No. IL were removed to Notre
Dame Hospital badly injured. Captain
NORM was rescued, badly cut. George
Reynolds of No. 1 was also taken to
Notre Dame Hospital
The bodies of Firemen King and Car
penter were recovered shortly after 10
o'clock tonight. The men were buried
beneath many tons of debris, and it took
several hours to get at them. Both men
had evidently been killed instantly.
The most seriously hurt was Fireman
David Bennett of No. 15 badly injured
internally.
All of the killed were married men.
with families. La Porte, who was re-
garded as one of the best men in the
brigade, represented Montreal at the in
ternational tournament in London last
summer.
The loss will reach $3.50, 600 The
buildings are all owned by the Grew
Nuns and are insured.