The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-05-11
MANY HOUSES
WERE BURNED.
West BroOkfield Fire Was a
Very Serious One.
ENTIRE TOWN WAS IN DANGER
Rain Came Up and Aided the Citizens To
Dampen the Fire Aid From Mas
silIon Was Not Ma
terial.
to News-Democrat.

Special to News-DemOcrat'
Massillon, May 9.-Thirteen houses
and five barns are in ruins as result
of the fire in West Brookfeld, Tuesday
afternoon, as briefly told in Tuesdays
News Democrat. The fire burned out
on account of having nothing to feed
on. It simply licked up everything In
it's path until there was nothing more
to lick then it settled down like huge
monster and died out. The relief of the
inhabitants of the little town when they
saw that the fire had spent itself is in
describable. Along the entire main
street the people had removed their
household goods and were preparing to
fly to the fields. The Massillon fire de-
partment, so far as the apparatus was
concerned, might just as well remained
at home. A little run from which the
water had evaporated was the alleged
water supply for the firemen. The en-
gine was placed on a bridge near the
fire and the effort was made to pump
but the old machine only pumped sand
and as it was not built for that purpose
the steam was shut off and the engine
Joined the populace in watching the fire
or doing what they could in a feeble
way to stop its progress. Men sitting
on the roofs of buildings drew up water
in buckets which were passed along by
a bucket brigade and threw the water
IN n Il roofs. When the fire swept
over toward them and the heat became
almost unbearable they poured the
water on their heads to keep from
burning. When the house they were
trying to save finally caught fire they
descended to the ground and then re-
peated the performance on the next roof.
Fire started in the residence of Thos.
Patterson, in the extreme northwest
end Of the village. A defective fiue was
| responsible. The high wind swept the
| flames through the house and the fire
brigade which had formed was pow
erless to check their progress. In a
few minutes Philip Mesners home next
door was ablaze. Then Eliza Smiths
house took fire and the heat became
intense.
Massillon was appealed to, as 1t was
seen that the entire town was threat
ened. The residence of Mrs. Robinson,
John Jones, on the south side of the
main street, were ablaze and the flying
embers carried the fire across the street
to the Mrs. John Smith home. The res
idence was soon licked up and three
barns followed suit.
| Both sides of the street were now at
a white heat. The homes of Mrs. Sarah
Good, David Watts and two more barns
were going up when the firemen arrived
and the firemen were helpless and the
Villagers started for dynamite to blow
lup buildings in the path of the fire.
Mrs. ] ID. Miller's fine house and the
homes of Andrew Reeley and George
were ablaze. At this time the wind
which had been blowing with the fury
of a hurricane, suddenly shifted and
before Levers grocery was reached it
was seen that the fire would not con-
tinue into the heart of the village. The
burned out families We're sheltered by
the neighbors. AS the fire was dying
out perfect deluge of water came from
the skies. Had it CONF sooner it might
have saved much property. The total
damage will reach about $4,000, which
is fully covered by insurance.
| L. ]. BLAKE.