The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-01-23
ON A WEAK HYDRANT
The Pressure Was Light, But the Fire
Blazed Vigorously.
ANOTHER PLUG WAS TRIED
Then. After Many Valuable Min
utes. the Fire. Which Meant to
Do Much Harm, Was ExtIn-
guIshed-A Loss of 1000.

The weak pressure that is furnished
/ by the Butte City Water company for
| fire purposes and which has been the
cause of a great deal of energetic kick
ing recently on the part of both firemen
| and property owners came very near
| to resulting in a serious confiagration
! yesterday afternoon. The fire was To-
Gated among the frame shacks of the
bad lands, and II It had ever got away
from the firement II would have quick
ly spread over several blocks and would
have entailed an immense amount of
property loss. For nearly 10 minutes
the firemen stood I'm front of the burn
ing building with a nozzle, the stream
from which did not rise four feet into
the air, and If a connection had not
oeen promptly made with another plug
where pressure was more effective, the
results would have been very serious
and the ruin would have been wide
spread.
At about 2 o'clock officer Buckner
discovered smoke issuing from the two
story frame building adjoining the
Copper block on East Galena street
and he turned in an alarm from Box 81
Inc department responded in good
style and a line was laid from the plug
at the corner of Galena and Wyoming
streets. The pressure there was not
NNAShS thouSn az ilTSL 10 take the Kinks
OUT or the hose, but IL became stronger
IN minute or two, and the flames in
front OF the building were extinguished
without much trouble. The first line
was then taken around to the rear.
where the fire was burning fiercely, and
anCther line was laid from the hydrant
at Main and Galena streets to protect
the front and the adjoining buildings.
IL took the water fully two minutes to
run from the plug to the nozzle, and Ii
was so weak that n only went three or
four feet into the air. The firemen
waited fuily hVe minutes in the expec-
tatlon that there would be a better
pressure, but 1t showed no signs of
gaining strength and the connection
was the broken and the line was car
rfed up to the corner of Park and wy
oming, where greater pressure was
secured. The pressure at the corner
nearest the fire was so light that IL was
considered ineXpedient to weaken IL by
attaching another line of hose to it, and
the line had to be carried up to Park
street.
In the meantime the fire regained the
ground 1t had lost, and the front of
the building was all in a blaze when
the hremen went at 1t the second time
They did good work. however. and
quickly eXtinguished the fire with the
two streams and the chemical engine,
although not before Il had scorched the
Two adjoining shacks on the east 1t
was feared for a few minutes that the
lire would spread into the Copper
block, but as soon as the firemen found
a hydrant with a Serviceable pressure
they removed all fear on that score.
The building in which the fire started
was completely Quilted and the two
shacks on the east were slightly dam
aged by smoke and water. The build
ings were owned by ]. A. Nadeau, who
places his loss at $1,000, with insurance
of only 5000. The fire IS believed to
have started from a gasoline stove.
Rose Gagnon, who occupied the part
of the building in which the fire start
ed, was asleep at the time, but escaped
without injury.