The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1905-11-27
Partially Wrecked Building
and Caused Fire
WAS ONE NARROW ESCAPE
Fire Soon Ertinguished But Damage
Will Be Considerable, Besides
Causing Much
Delay.

An explosion Of gas in the cleansers
in the generating building Of the gas
plant Of the Peoples Lighting, Heating
and Power Co., off Depot Square at 2:12
o'clock yesterday afternoon partially
wrecked the main building and also set
fire to it. That Dwight Mills, who Is
employed BY the company, was not killed
or seriously injured is most remarkable.
Mr.. Wells was standing within three feet
OF where the explosion occurred, when
he heard slight noise in the tanks,
and knowing something was wrong had
just time to step around behind th8
side of the generator wall when the ex-
plOsion came The force of the expio-
sion blew a large hole in the roof di-
rectly over the cleansers and part
of the gable end of the building was torn
open. One of the three cleansers, which
are sheet iron, hollow, and stand about
twelve feet high and are five feet in
diameter, was blown from the pit i'm
which it stood clear across the building,
and the other two were knocked down.
Nearly all the windows in the building
were broken and the bricks in the walls
were cracked and pushed out in many
places. The door in the boiler room that
opens out of doors was closed at tia
time of the explosion and was blown
the exception Of having his hair and
whiskers singed, Dir. Wells is as CONS
Portable as If nothing had happened.
The noise of the explosion was heard
nearly all over the city and a large
crowd was attracted to the scene. Tha
frame work Of the roof, which is prac-
tically all the wood work there is about
the building, took fire, but was put out
by the fire company in about half an
hour The alarm was rung in from bog
Is on Granite street at 2:13. The in
slant after the explosion occurred, Mr..
Wells rushed out OF the building and
ran to the gas tank and turned off the
connection with the generator in the
main building. The three cleaners stand
in pit which il filed with water, and
the gas as it is generated passes into
them and is washed by the water, and
then goes into the pipe which carries
III to the large receiving tank outside
the building. The explosion blew the
cleansers and water out of the pit and
left the pipe from the receiving tank
open and a twenty-inch stream of burn
ing gas was shooting up to the roof Of
the building when Mr. Wells shut off
the connection. There was no danger
Of the big gas tank exploding, as the
gas was forced out through the pipe
the same as through a common gas
burner, and the tank could not be ex-
ploded unless the gas was allowed to
get so low that there was no pressure
and vacuum was caused in the pipe.
Mr.. Wells told reporter that he did
not know what caused the explosion. He
had been in the building to keep up
the fires in the boiler and was about
ready to go home when the explosion oc-
CURED.
a large crowd was attracted to Depot
Square, and for a while most of the
people were content to witness the sight
from safe distance, fearing another ex-
plosion. But the turning off the gas
cock iuto the tank prevented that pos
sibility. What little fire there was the
fire company made short work of, and
the excitement was all over in half
an hour.
Directors Howland and Bush and
Manager Anker of the company went
last evening to Burlington to confer with
other directors regarding repairs, and
the company viii be in shape as soon
as it is possible. Today they furnished
gas in storage. 1t is impossible to state
what the loss is, but an estimate places
it at $1,000, almost entirely from the
explosion and not from fire.