New-York tribune., 1901-08-21
OIL FIRE STILL RAGING.
PHI, r,ADFLPHIA FIRE DEPARTMENT
GIVES Up HOPE OF SAVING PROP
FRTY-FIVE LIVES LOST.

philadelphia, Aug 20.-The fire which began
,,as,er6av afternoon at the works of the Atlantic
pasning Company at Point Breeze, in the
s,r,buestern part OF the city, is still burning
asr!ely tonight, and Chief Baxter. Of the city
rire Department, has given up hope of saving
any Of the company's property. The one hope
~ tbe company's officials and the hrernen was
an their ability TO pump the oil from the
tanks not yet reached by the flames into reserve
tanks I'm an isolated part of the yard An
nIosion late this afternoon carried away the
nurnping machinery, and nothing remains now
annarentlv but 10 permit the conflagration TO
burn until all the oil is consumed.
II is believed tonight that the five lives lost
IN the explosion Of the big gasolene tank com
.nletes the list Of fatalities. The dead are four
s,snen and an empIoye of the Atlantic Refining
Company
7, the explosion which occurred this afternoon.
afteen persons were injured seriously enough to
be taken TO the hospitals. and about forty others
nero treated on the scene by the ambulance sur
geons,
friefv the story Of the fire may be thus sum
oerizea. All Of those reported missing after
the explosion last night have been accounted
Cor The roll Of injured mounts up TO more
than one hundred Many Of these are trivial
cases. not taken TO hospitals. few are serious
and may prove fatal
The fire is still raging and Is eating up oil a
she rate ~ Sl0DOOO A day. according to the esti-
mate of President Lloyd OF the Atlantic Refin-
,ng Company Firemen and officials power
less The fire must literally burn itself out.
The cooperage shop has been swept away, and
,n its destruction forty men narrowly escaped
death.
The tanks Of benzine are going. Earthworks
have been thrown up TO keep the Schuylkill
River from becoming flooded with blazing oil
The fremen say they are working in the dark
There is danger all around them. they say. and
they do not know where the danger spots are.
The loss can only be estimated Officials OF
the company refuse TO make any statement to
the quantity OF OH, benzine and naphtha con
tanned in the various tanks already destroyed
and those that cannot escape destruction. In
surance men and firemen early to-day said that
the loss could not be less than SJoo,sh. but
since then great quantities Of refined petroleum
and benzine have been consumed. and several
tanks have been rendered useless by the flames.
President Lloyd said:
saThe exact quantity Of oil in the various tanks
I could not give you We do not know our
,elves. We do not carry any insurance. our
losses are made good from a sinking fund set
aside precisely for such an emergency as this"
Station A. Of the United Gas Improvement
Company which is directly opposite the burning
OIL works is in grave danger Chief Engineer
". H. Gartley. Of the station, said late to-
night
"A change in the wind, and station A is
doomed. No trouble is anticipated unless the
wind Veers around from the southwest How
ever We are taking chances, and have al
ready run the three holders down half way.
Their respective capacities are 100000, 3 2750-
600 and 100000 cubic feet"
The Point Breeze Oil Works have been dew
astated by fire several occasions. Eleven
years ago fire started. which burned fercely
for three days, destroying much property and
causing heavy loss
Seventeen years ago there was another fire,
which defed the efforts OF the fremen for six
days. The fire fighting force Of the city not
able TO cope with this outbreak and aid
summoned from nearby places. On both OF these
occasions the heavy smoke hung over the city,
completely obscuring the light Of the