The sun., 1906-01-13
HOT FIGHT WITH FLAMING OIL
FIRE PENDED OFF FROM 1000
GALLON MINING TANK.
old Water Street Building Burned Ont,
but Adjoining Factories and Tene'
ments saved In 4 Hour struggle Fire
men cut and ScOrched and Stined.


men cut and ScOrched AMI Stined
Fire Chief Croker and his smoke eaters
saved the block Of buildings bounded by
Broad street, Water street, Coenties Slip
and Front street after four hours OF the
hardest kind of work last night. they
kept the fire. which started in an oil factory
at IS Water street. from reaching big
mixing tank on the second floor Of the
building in the rear. The tank held about
1000 gallons of lubrcating oil.
The New York Lubricating Oil Company;
which is managed by Chamberlain Co.,
occupies the whole building at 35. IL Is
a four story brick and frame structure
over SO years old, Oil in barrels was
stored on every floor. There were about
20 1000 gallons of oil in stock, the firemen
were told.
Jim Yenter. who works for a -four mill
across the street saw tongue Of fire stick
ing out Of third story window at 80 about
$50 o'clock The oil factory hands were
all gone except eight or nine. who were on
the ground floor closing up for the night.
Yenter ran across the street and told them
the building was afire. They hustled out
yelling. Their yells brou ght out most OF
the people living In the block. In a m'nnt"
or two the streets were blocked second
alarm went in at 5;S7 o'clock.
Chief Croker appeared on the second
alarm. BY that time the crowd was so big
that Can't. Dillon Of the Old slip station
sent in a call for reserves to half dozen
stations. In n Quarter of an hour he had
fftv patrolmen at his disposal. and he
needed them all to shepherd the crowd.
Several women who had grabbed their
babies and taken to the street at the first
alarm got the crowd nervous by screaming
that there would surely he an explosion.
The engines ratt led to the fire through,
the biggest crush hour in Broadway ana
the downt own district. Most of the
mounted policemen on lower broadway
ralloped ahead of them. driving the CROWDS
out of the way. For few minutes the
trolley cars were held in the neighhorhooh
of Bowling Green.
BY the time ten engines and water
tower got in position the building was
burning from cellar to roof. Croker ser
the water tower in Water street. squareiy
in front Of the building, and got four hose
lines working from the rear and two on each ,nf
fireboats New Yorker and Strong were
humping away from position at Sonth
and Water streets
The windows in the burning building
we're shuttered with iron, solidly bolted'
A dozen men went up the ladders and nam
mered and clawed for ten minutes between
bursts of flame and smoke before they
could get the shutters open and give the
water a chance Most of these men got
their hands scorched and suffered from
smoke.
ing tank 30 feet high and about o feet In
diameter on the second floor, and that II
held about .. 600 gallons OF oil,
"lf that gets atire. there II be hell and
half of time. he shouted.
He mana ged to get half a dozen men in
side on the second floor in position TO keep
the tank flooded. 1t was touch and go for
over an hour, and Capt. Dillon had a squad
of men ready to Jump to the rescue IN case
the tank got blazing and the firemen inside
found themselves trapped. Mean~niIe
Croker on the roof of the building adjoining
on the west was pouring in water, and Dep
uty Chief Kruger was fighting the fire in the
rear.
street. is the Marseilles CASTLE Soap Works.
an eleven foot alley way running between
the buildings. Several times the soap
factory caught fire from flying, sparks and
the terrific heat, and flames shot upt from
its roof Kruger kept two lines OF hose
going on the soap factory. If the tire
had taken hold Of it it would have been
hard Job saving the tenement houses IN
the block ,.
For over an hour the drenching hadn
much effect. Bursting barrels of oil kept
feeding the flames. and dripping fire from
the top floor to the bottom. The smoke
was 30 thick that without the soarchlightS
the men couldn't feel their way. Half a
dozen times Croker thought he had the
fire whipped. the flames would die out
leaving nothing but thick smoke, then an
oil barrel would let go and the whole job
would have to he done over again :,