Los Angeles herald., 1907-02-27
German Building Is
Seething Mass
of Flames
Bravery Shown by Fire
Fighters in Saving
Victims
Firemen and Police Cover The enselves
with GIory-Property Loss ls
Estimated at One Hundred
Thousand Dollars

Caught In the awful curtain of blind
ing smoke that swept every floor of the
building, Miss Emma Stewart, stem
ographer for the Germain Real Estate
company, met death by suffocation yes
terday In the burning of the Germain
building at 224 South Spring street.
Five others, men and women, were in
jured, and damage to property amount
ing to about 100000, mostly covered by
insurance. was sustained.
The FIRE was one Of the worst that the
local department has had to contend
with for some time. 1t had probably
been smouldering in the basement of
the Fair notion company at 226 South
Spring street for hours, and possibly
for days. Yesterday a few minutes af-
ter 1 o'clock and just before the occu-
pants of the business offices had re-
turned from lunch the smoke from the
seething furnace was discovered swirl
ing up through the elevator shaft.
In an instant the elevator was out of
commission and the attendant, after
trying desperately to carry the cage
skyward to rescue the inmates, gave
up and fought his way through the
smoke to freedom.
Fire Hard TO Fight
The fire department responded mag
I1fncentiy. 1t was one of those
fires where there is little to be seen by
spectators, and only the binding work
of fighting through clouds of smoke to
w hot
heavy walls to break out at unexpected
places covering it's advance by throw
ing out an impenetrable pail of darkness
before 1t.
When the last tap from the fire bell
sounded the knell of that fire the entire
rear department of the old Germain
building had gone down in a mass of
charred wreckage.
1t will be up to the underwriters
to perform a difficult piece of work be-
fore a settlement can be made.
Woman Suffocated
Miss Stewart, one Of the most popular
young women of Highland Park, lost
her life by suffocation early in the fire,
fright causing her to fall fainting to the
floor where she was found too late to
save her. Several other people were
overcome but were found in time to
prevent death. Firemen and rescuers
were injured and more than a score
of companies were damaged.
The Fair company, where the fire
commenced, is a total wreck. There is
hardly dollars worth of it's stock of
$45.000 left and according to the state
ment of the owners yesterday there is
but 500, 900 insurance carried on it. The
damage to the building will amount to
near $4,000. amply covered by insur-
ance James Morleys billiard room, the
finest In the city, sustained a loss of
about $4,000. and the damage to the
hundreds of offices q the building to the
adjoining stores and to many stores in
the neighborhood whose stocks are
ruined from smoke and water, will pile
up the damage to the total of 100000
Employees Fight Flames
The fire department, following the
still alarm arrived at the building in
record time. Employees of the Fair
store, prior to turning in an alarm, had
gone to the basement of the building
and had attempted to fight the fire
there until driven out by the smoke.
Three weeks ago a fire broke out in the
same place and was quickly put under
control, while certain stock of inlam-
mable character was ordered to be re-
moved, but the stuff was allowed to
remain and the second fire resulted, It Is
thought, from spontaneous combustion
Smoke was pouring from nearly every
window in the building when the de-
partment arrived. The evelator shaft,
like a giant devil, fairly writhed and
twisted in a cloud OF thick yellow stuff
that blinded and choked and spread
from floor to floor, causing panic and
death and destruction. From the air
vents on the sixth floor of the building
the smoke rolled out, and driven by a
high south wind, 1t filled the streets
choking those who attempted to get
near the building and more effectualIy
clearing the streets than squad OF po-
lice with fire line could have done.
Smoke Drives Flremen Back
In a desperate attempt to gain the
upper floors the flremen were ordered
into the main entrance of the building
from a smokestack, but none hesitated,
With Chief Lips at the front of the line,
the boys rushed up the stairway three
times, and each time were driven out.
The attempt had failed and attention
was turned to the Fair store. The more
the firemen fought In the building the
worse grew the smoke. Great masses of
fancy bric-a-brac, glassware of every
kind and description and fancy articles
and notions lined the shelves. The great
fire hose at full cock swept the building
from one end to the other. Wherever
the stream for an instant rested on
shelf or counter the crash and rattle OF
flying glass and crockery was heard
spelling the doom OF the stock
Finding a desperate dash for the cellar
stairs fruitless, Chief Lips opened up