Waterbury Democrat., 1902-11-17
PACKING PLANT GONE
Fire Destroys Armour & Co.'S
Sioux City Buildings.
LOSS IS ESTIMATED At 100000.
Burning Lard and Provisions, With
Exploding Tanks of Ammonia,
Cause Intensely Hot and
Spectacular Blaze.


SIOUX CITY, Ia, Nov. 1.-THE big
plant of Armour & Co., which occupied
three and a half acres of ground at the
extreme south end of the stockyards
district, has been totally destroyed by
a fire which started at an early hour
Sunday morning on the second floor OF
the fertilizer building.
The loss, estimated by Charles W.
Lennon, manager of the company. is
total, or 100000. The insurance is
$721, 800.
The cause Of the fire was said by
Mr.. Lennon to have been either spon-
taneous combustion or an imperfect
drier.
Six hundred men will be thrown out
of employment all winter by the fire.
The fire was discovered by watch
man of the building who only few
minutes before had pulled messenger
box on the floor where the flames
started
Quickly the Armour private fire de-
partment Of six men was called out,
and the entire city department fol-
lowed.
Were being thrown upon the fire which
was destroying the fertilizer building,
but the pressure was inadequate. The
fertilizer building, which was of brick,
120 by go feet, four stories high, was
located between the beef killing house
and the Chicago, st. Paul, Minneapolis
and Omaha railroad tracks on the east.
The floors and contents of the building
burned like chaff. In less than an hour
the roof fell in, and a moment later the
fire burst through into the beef killing
house. simultaneously the cattle chute
ignited and lasted FIVE minutes, when
it fell with great crash.
From the beef killing house to the
oleo building was only a step, and
when the lard was ignited the fire pre-
scented a most spectacular appearance.
The big beefhouse, where 500 car
cases were hanging, soon caught. By
this time the entire plant, except the
hoghouse, was a lake of fire. The roar
was terrible. The country for miles
around was lighted up. Suddenly came
a terrific explosion, followed quickly
by another and then another. Twenty
four drums of a hundred pounds of
ammonia each exploded before the re-
serve supply in the ammonia cistern
was reached. That ignition almost
RACED the entire plant from it's founda-
ton.
At 2:30 o'clock the flames burst
through the heavy fire wall that sepa-
rated the big hoghouse from the other
buildings. The hoghouse was the last
II, Il,
all.
Steadily the fire crept against the
wind and through the office building,
which from the first had been enyel-
oped in flames. Not a scrap Of paper
was saved from the Office.
About this time burning roof Of
chute fell upon a bunch of live hogs,
and their squeals were added to the APP
palling chorus.
When the hoghouse caught fire, all
streams were turned in that direction,
but the water seemed like oil. In the
building were $500 dressed hogs and
100000 pounds of pork product.
After the fire got good Roadway in
the hoghouse all hope of saving any
part Of the plant was abandoned. The
shops, chicken packing plant, icehouse
and ice runways and smaller depart
ment houses were consumed in quick
succession. The efforts of the firemen4
seemed without result. The terrible
roaring continued una bated, high brick
walls crumbled and fire walls were alb
solutely valueless.
The fire continued to burn all day,
and in the afternoon there was another
terrible explosion which threw bricks
and pieces of hot iron for hundreds of
yards, endangering thousands of spec
tators. but no one was seriously hurt