The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1902-02-06
TWO MILLIONS DAMAGE.
The Business Section Of Waterbury,
Connecticut, Laid Waste
by Fire.
F'aE FIGHTERS HAVE STRENUOUS TIME.
BaildinRs Attached by the Planes
seemed to shrivei ~ i1ke Paper
Huip rrom SsiEhborinE Cities A Reg
alaF Panic.

Waterbury. Conn, Feb. 3.--ln the
hardest gale of the winter, Water
bury struggled last night with fire
that destroyed . large area Of the
business section of the city and
threatened 60 wipe II out completely.
The blaze started In the upholstery
department. un the third floor of tho
store of the Reid & Hughes dry goods
company, at i0s-1e0 Bank street, and
that store and many adjoining build.
ings were reduced Ia "a few hours to
smolderinR embers, An estimate of
81 .OO0. coo ~ the amount of the prop
crty loss on buildings and contents
was considered conservative by insur-
ance mes. The origin of the Ere IL
unknown. and Il was undiscovered
uatil II had gained tremendous head
way, At e:ts p. IN. three employees
Of the Reid & Hughes Co. were In the
store, and when they left they no
ticrd no odor Of smoke about the
mnin floor.
Fifteen minutes later flames were
seen 10 hurst with great force from
the window@A Of the third fioor and
almost simultaneously from the base
meni. Reforo anybody could ring
in an alarm the whole interior Of the
building was = mass Of flames.
When the department. reached the
scene, flames were issuing frrm
every window of the building, and Il
was evident that the structure was
doomed. and the entire business sec
tion Of the city was impcrilIed.
The FIRST building 20 catch from
the Reid & Hughes Co. store was a
tall structure 10 the westward. occu-
pied by tine salvation Army barracks
aud Turkish bath, 4 moment or two
later the flames leaped back to the
eastward across Rank street and
wiped ont the Ryan A Fitsmauris
block Cannon & WebSter's drug store,
Davis cigar store and the store Of
]. b. nuiii.igs a Son. They burned
rapidly through 90 South Main street.
jumped across that street. sbriveling
the buildings like paper. AZ the same
time the flames caught the masonic
temple and travelled from the Saliva
tion Army building TO the rear Of the
Franklin house on Grand street, and
the entire block. consisting Of seven
OF eight handsome hve-stary hniid-
inRs. with 30 tenementa, and the
large and cummolius headquarters
Of the Waterbury American we're in
ruins before midnight
shortly after midnight the are,
which had apparently been brought
nearly under control, broke out in
new places. and the efforts Of the To-
cal firemen, combined with the aid
given by fire fighters and apparatus
from Hartford, Torrihgton. Bridge
port. New Haven and Naugatuck.
seemed powerless Ca stay It's prog
rrsA. The blaze was wiping uui the
business portion OF the city, oil the
FIRE being confined TO that section,
though residential parts of the city
:vcre In danger by sparks driven by
the furious wind.
In the panic caused by the FIRE
there were many rumOra Of accidents
and fatalities, but u the Waterbury
hospital. al one o'clock. IL was said
that no accidents or death had been
reported there.
At one o'clock conservative esti-
mates place the loss at s2,00000n
In despair of being able 30 subdue
The flames by the usual methods, the
use of dynamite was suggested but
the idea was afterwards abandoned,
because Il was feared that the burn
ing embcrs thrown up by the expio-
sion would carry the flames 60 dis
tant seetionr ~ the city.
!. is reported that numerous
thieves were operating in houses
whose occupants had left them to
view the blaze. 4 number Of arreata
were made,