The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-12-11
WOMEn AIE CARRIED
OUT 0; The FLAMES
Thrilling Scenes at a Big Fire
in Sioux Falls Masonic
Building.
MANY LIVES IN DANGER
Firemen Take Women in Scanty hp
parcl From Their Windows and
One of the Fircmen Is Over
come by Gas, but Saved.

s come by Gas, but Saved.
IT
Sioux Falls, s.. D., Dec. 5.-Two
!, scores OF lives were imperiled, our fire
men injured, a dozen people We're res
tCued by police and iiremen and a loss
of 81, 600 was done in 4 fire in the Ma
sonic temple here at A o'clock Thursday
morning.
The fire started in a room in the base
ment adjoining the boiler room Of the
building and when discovered had
I gained such Roadway that a number of
the m of whom there were ility
on the second and third floors. were
nearly overcome by smoke. Seven
/, women ana one man in their night
robes were taken from the third story
! by ladders hoisted by the firemen.
Three women were rescued by Police
I Officer lack Tracey, who, fighting his
way through the smoke, carried them
] Into the street.
l Assistant Fire Chief r. Sloan. while
A directing his men III the basement, was
/ overcome by gas. but vas discovered
!. in the nick of time by tireInen, who car
y ned him to safety A kerosene tank in
! the basement of the building under
i meath W.. A. HIS grocery exploded,
scattering the burning oil over the
|. walls and hurting three ilremen to the
? floor. The men were not seriously IN
jured and were able to retreat before
the flames reached them.
List of the Losses.
a stiff northwest gale made fire fight
ing difficult and for some time the en-
tire business block was threatened.
The losses;
Porter T, Peck. owner of building. ..$5,5H2
w. a. Hill, groceries. 1905
"A. Ii. Sites, 500
Geo, kessler. music dealer,....:r..., 4W
a.. s: Paddock, sewing machines, =,
Rummell Bros. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., 400
A. 8. Wall, bakery ................ 200
Cash Register acknowledgements. go
Sioux Falls Water company........... 800
The losses were covered by insurance.
A barking dog reused A. S. Paddock.
Il music dealer, who with his family
occupies rooms adjoining his business
place on the first floor. he woke to
find the rooms filled with smoke. Rush
ing In his night clothing into the street,
Paddock gave the alarm and with OIL
Ger Jack Tracey started into the build.
ing to rouse the
The first door of the Masonic temple
is occupied by business firms; the sec
ond and third floors are given over to
Offices and sleeping rooms; the fourth
floor is occupied by the Masonic fra
ternities.
Smoke Was Very Bad.
So dense was the smoke that the DO,
licemen experienced great difficulty in
getting up The stairs, already weakened
by the fire which roared like a furnace
in the basement and the grocery store
of w. A. Hill, adjoining. Tracey rIn
through the halls rapping at doors and
shouting an alarm.
At once there was great confusion.
The tenants reused from sleep poured
Into the halls and rushing blindly for
the stalrways, half ran, half tumbled
down them, rolling panic-stricken into
the streets. The screams OF women,
who dared not brave the choking
smoke added to the confusion. Heads
appeared at windows on the third foor
and screams for help joined the cries
of hundreds of spectators who stood in
the street below begging the frightened
women to remain calm.
Three women Divorces, who oc-
cupied apartments on the second floor,
We're partly overcome by smoke. OH
Ger Tracey learning they were still in
the building made his way to the rooms
and carried them out, one by one. The
policeman was cheered.
In the meantime the firemen hoisted
ladders to the third story windows ana
from there carried seven women who's
escape by the stairway had been cut
off. The women We're in their night
clothes. Later Oscar Cast, a cigar
manufacturer, Ill of rheumatism, was
rescued by ladders.
The tenants who had saved nothing
WHY SalSu " az Tie NOTES ana res
t%aurants.
Overcome by Gas.
While the rescue OF the women was
in progress. Assistant Chief Sloan, with
a squad of tiremen, entered the base
ment beneath the grocery OF w. A.
Hill. Sloan stepped into the boiler
room and tried to shut off the gas sup
ply. The fire had already burned the
gas pipes and the gas soon overcame
Sloan, who lay unconscious on the floor
until found by his men. He was re-
~suscitated by a physician, but today is
unable to be on duty.
Three of the firemen while at work in
the basement narrowly escaped instant
death by the explosion of a kerosene
tank. The burning fluid was thrown
about the walls, While the force of the
explosion hurled the fremen to the
floor. They 'crawled away in time to
avoid the flames. Three streams of
water were turned on the fire in the
basement and another in the Hills
grocery, the flames having eaten
through the floor and destroyed most of
the stock. In an hour the fire was I'M
der control.
The greatest damage was to the
buildin, which Is owned by Porter p.
Peck, president of the M%innehaha Ma
tional bank. The stock of w A. Hill.
grocer, was destroyed. Damages to the
tenants WAS mostly by smoke and wa
.er and canrot be correctly estimated.