Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-03-08
FIRE IN SWIFT & co.'s sroRgHouse
Office Destroyed but Meats Were Not
Oamaged-Plant viii Be Remodelled
and Greatly ENLARGED.

The fire i'm Swift x cos storehouse
near the railroad station Saturday night
did not hamper the business of the com
pauy to any extent and steps have al.
ready been taken to repair the damage
ana enlarge the plant. The fire was dis
covered breaking out through the south
crn end Of the building about as o'clock
by boy. He ran to box &c and tried to
ring in an alarm but did not know how
\ man came to his assistance. however
and the fire department responded with
reasonable promptness for that time Of
night. The fire by that time had broken
out through the roof and threatened the
total destruction OF the building. For an
hour and a half the firemen fought the
flames before they thought them sub
dued and went home. At II. so o'clock
Manager W. $. Ingraham, who was look
ing over the ruins. discovered the flames
breaking out again on the roof and sent
for assistance. The chemical engine was
sent down and promptly stopped the
blaze. Mr.. Ingraham went home leaving
Il night Waterman in charge. The watch
man discovered the flames breaking out
again at l o'clock and had to summon
help a third time, This time a hand eX-
tnguisher was used in suhduing the
flames.
The fire appeared to have caught in
the floor Of the Office around a stove pipe
running from the hot water heater I'm the
basement up through the Office The Of
flee was totally cleaned out and every
thing not in the safe was lost The fire
ran up into the attic above and burned
the roof ana the southern end of the
building. The stock is all kept i'm the
northerly end OF the storehouse and the
fire did not reach it, The building was
once the Central Vermont depot and the
shell is still owned by the road. Swift
& Co took a long lease and completely
rcmodelled the interior into an unto
date refrgcratinR plant and the new plans
will make ii a still better one. The build
ing was insured through the Chicago Of
flee. The insurance adiusters visited the
plant Monday and the loss was fixed at
about $1,000
The plans for the reconstruction Of the
building include an extension of the main
refrigerating storehouse northerly by the
erection of an addition IS feet long where
the small barn now stands. The barn
Will be torn down and the addition con-
nected directly with the main storeroom.
The enlargement will also include a cold
storage plant for eggs, with capacity for
about 20OO cases, There has heretofore
been no provision for the storage of eggs
in large quantities apart from the main
refrigerating rooms. A new office will he
built i'm southern extension of the build
ing, eight feet long and the width of the
building The old office room will be
turned into q salesroom and the new Of
flee and salesroom will he all that will
be heated. The business has increased
so rapidly in the past f1ve years that the
additions would have been necessary in
short time anyway and the fire merely
FASTENED the reconstruction. Five car
penters We're put on the work as soon as
the insurance was adjusted and five
more were added later in the week,