The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-01-12
Three Were Firenen Who
Died While in Noble
Work of Rescue.
BURNING 10 STORY STRUCTURE
WAS SCENE OF MANY sENsA-
TIoNAL SCENES AND INCIDENTS
WEAK WATER HANDICAPPED
FrRsMEN in FIGHTING THE
FIRE-suswAY AND OTHER
TRACTION COMPANIES TIED UP
av Associated Press.

*, It
three of them firemen, were killed,
and about s5,OOO0O worth of properly
DESTROYED by fire which ruined the
th,rteen-story Parker building at
Fourth avenue and Nineteenth street.
between midnight and daylight this
mo ming. The iremen are believed to
have gone down In the blazing ruins
y-hen one of the floors fell. Blu. none
OF their comrades Witnessed their
deaths.
The dead
John Failon, Thomas O'Connor.
Thomas Phillips, all membe.s o. ar
engine company.
Robert Boyer, printer, VINO WAS at
work in the building when the lire
started, was missing afterward and
is believed to have been killed.
The fire began on the sixth floor OF
the building. Baffled by weak water
pressure and bursting hose, the fire.
men worked at great disadvantage
Water could not be forced above the
eighth story, Falling floors cut OF the
escape to the street, not only of fire
men, but of other occupants, and they
We're rescued only by the most daring
work.
Il
abutted against the subway, and the
walls bullying when the steel posts
and Orders first expanded and then
contracted threaened to fal and
crush the tube. All traffic in the sub
way between Fourteenth street and
the Grand Central station al Forty
second street was suspended while the
fire was at its worst in the early hours.
but was resumed in the height of the
early rush OF passengers downtown,
only to be suspended again under ur-
gent orders of the fire and building
departments. For hours after the fire
was practically extinguished it was
still regarded as too dangerous to run
trains by the building. and subway
passengers were forced to resort to
the elevated and surface cars.
Although accounted fire-proof. the
great building burned like finder, the
fire in the upper stories gaining good
Roadway unchecked. as IL was far be-
yond the reach of even the fire de-
partment's great water towers.
Sensational rescues We're the feat
ures of the fire. Five men who were
at work on the top floor of the build
Ing were cut Off from rescue below and
sought the roof. where they stood
siihouetted against the flames which
had broken through the roof. From the
top of an adjoining building, several
stories lower than the blazing one,
line was shot up from mortar. and
with this line the men drew up large
rope, which they fastened to a Chin
ney. sliding down to the lower roof
in safety.
Three firemen were caught in the
sixth story when a floor below them
dropped and were forced upward to
the seventh and then to the eighth
story of the building. From below IT
seemed that rescue was impossible I'M
I'll several firemen. Selling scaling lad
ders. began to swing themselves up
the face of the tottaring wall. Climb
ing to window ledge, the ladder with
It's great hook. was drawn up and
swung TO higher ledge with the men
working heroically until their endan-
gered comrades were reached. Down
the smoking wall the men came slow
~, almost painfully, until they We're
near enough to the ground to drop
INTO their comrades outstretched arms
so narrow was the escape for rescuers
as we'll as rescued, the ladders them
selves were burned where they hung
When the firemen. dropped from their
ruags
But even the rescue of these men
Was not complete for three who went
up into the building failed TO return
The other three disappeared in the
MA $ OF falling concrete AID twisted
steel beams 1t il their bodies that
Sorrowing comrades are searching for
among the smoking ruins this morn
ms In addition 20 the missing score
OF more fremen We're 'hHrt their IN
jeries ranging from painful bruises 10
INJURIES that may prove fatal
The fire was officially declared 10
De under control soon after Z O'Clock
out Deputy Chief Benns warned the
police to keep the crowds as far away
as possible from the wrecked building,
aS there was still danger that ii might
collapse as result of the contraction
ol the steel Orders as they cooled
ms resulted in a complete tie-up OF
me Fourth avenue trolley line, and II
was not expected that any cars would
10 over the Eighteenth street cross
'ng during the day.
rom information given by the occu-
pants of the surrounding buildings II
=" believed that the fire was in prog