Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-22
A MIDNIGHT BLAZE
TWO WOMEN BURNED BY THE
FLAMES
Damage Resulting From a Fire at 71S
14th Street Northwest-Sup-
posed Origin.

l wv "oihCh iiS AL al TIE emergency HOS
pital today-Mss Kate Miller. probably ia
tally injured, and Miss Gertina Peck, suf-
fering from severe shock and slight burns
( as the result of fire which broke out
suddenly on the second floor of the resi-
| dence and Office building at 7I3 14th street
| northwest, a little before midnight last
night.
| The damage to the property, as estimated
| by the District fire marshal, was about
| $l,20O to the building and $500 to the con-
| tents. While the blaze did not last long,
| 1t was an angry one for time and spread
| so rapidly that three women were forced
| to seek safety by way of the windows. 1t
| is supposed to have started from an ex-
piosion of accumulated gas from broken
pipe or open Jet under a stairway, the re-
| port of which was heard, it is claimed,
more than square away.
Miss Kate Miller. who is about thirty
| five years of age, was on the second floor
! of the three-story building when the eXplo-
sion occurred. L. b. Mskmon of the first
precinct, special crossing policeman, heard
the noise and rushed toward the house in
time to see Miss Miller leap headlong from
the front window and dash down into the
deep basement areaway. The incident was
so rapid that the exact nature of the fall
| was not noted but it is believed she broke
through awning over the basement en-
trance and fell headforemost on the stone
steps. The officer found her unconscious.
He carried her at once across the street to
await the ambulance.
The Other Women Occupants.
The two other women in the house, find
ing escape cut off by flames in the hall
and on the stairway. also rushed to the
windows. Miss Peck's screams were heard
by Policeman J. B. Larrick, who was stand
Ing at the corner of New York avenue and
18th street when the IRE started. and dis
nffI ho. r6 Of
He ran into the building, and traversing
the burning stairs. made for the sounds OF
the woman's voice.
He reached the rear window at the end of
the hall on the second floor, and saw Miss
Peck hanging practically by one hand from
another window just across from him. He
grabbed her by the wrist and succeeded in
pulling her back into the building. Then
he gathered her up in his arms and rushed
back downstairs smothering the flames
that had caught her dress. He took her to
a fruit store several doors north of the
burning structure where she remained I'M
til the Emergency Hospital ambulance took
her and her more seriously injured COM
panion away.
No injuries were sustained by the third
woman, Miss Francis Mott although she
jumped from rear window on the third
story. Entirely without intention, it is be-
lfeved she landed upon the roof of an out
building. man In the rear alley, who
had been aroused by the commotiOn, help
ed her to the ground safely.
Robert J. Kirkpatrick was also in the
building His room is in the rear on the
second floor, just above his real estate Of
flee on the first floor. He was awakened
by the noise, and when he had pulled on a
coat and pair of trousers and rushed into
the hallway he found the plaster off the
walls and ceiling and the flames rapidly
spreading in every direction. He also heard
Miss Peck's screams and started to aid her,
| but the policeman performed the rescue be-
fore him.
Others who were awakened by the
screams We're Mrs. Robertson and her
daughter, who live next door, to the north.
They became frightened and rushed to the
street in their night clothes They We're
afterwards taken into the fruit store with
Miss Peck.
Rapid Spread Of the Flames.
There was a quantity of rags and other
infammable material under the stairway
where the fire is supposed to have started,
and this together with the escaping gas, is
supposed to have caused the rapid spread Of
the fire. In few minutes it had reached
the hallway on the first floor and had
spread to every room on the second and
third floors. Sparks and pieces of burning
ma teral fell through the windows to the
street. The fire department, under the di-
rection of Battalion Chief Wagner, did not
allow the blaze to spread further after 1t
got to work. Ladders were quickly thrown
to the upper windows and the roof, and
several streams or wafer trained lHto tit
burning rooms. In few minutes the
building was dark and smoking.
No. 713 is used for offices and living
apartments. Ben B. Bradford real estate
and loan agent, has offices on the first floor
front, and there are other offices in the
basement The damage in these parts OF
the building was slight. The second ana
third floors were burned out almost COM
pletely.
After extinguishing the blaze the firemen
cleaned the charred rubbish from the hall
and stairways and attempted to discover
any Oil cans or escaping gas that might
have caused the fire. Their search was In
vain, but they stamped out every bit Of
burning material and left no chance for an
other outbreak of the flames.
Acting Fire Marshal Nicholson, who made
an investigation of the premises, found that
the most damage was around the stairway
and the closet beneath it on the second
floor. He was told that considerable rub
bish was kept there and sometimes Oil
cans. This, it is believed, throws addi-
tional light on the origin of the fire.
Miss Millers condition at noon today was
regarded very serious. Her leg is
broken she is suffering from conclusion of
the brain and her body is otherwise
bruised. Miss Peck is not seriously hurt.