Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-07-05
'DRONKARD CAUSES
DISASTROUS FIRE: [:
Saturdays Blaze in Nampa Re-
suits in the Loss Of
s25o,0oO.
PROMPT AID FROM BOISE.
Citizens Respond With Herolsm and
& save Much Property Build
ings Dynainitcd.
--------------.
Cspeclal To the a cws..l.

Especial to the 'NcwslD
Nampa. July 5.-Nalnpa had a fire,
Saturday afternoon that will entail d
loss OF at least s25o,Opo, # 1t was started
at bout $50 p. M by a drunken man
going into cigar store on the corner
nearest the Short Line depot, buying
"a cigar. and after Lighting 1t, he picked
up spin wheel and, lighting it, threw
Fit among the fire crackers which We're.
in the store, setting or all the fire.
matter OF two or three minutes ne-l
fore the whole interior of the place was
Il mass Of flames They spread very,
rapidly, and the whole corner, which
was built of wood, was soon sending
flames skyward, burning at a terrific
rate.
The fire department. was called out
quickly, but on account of the eN-
stensiye improvements which are being
made in the town at present. the water
mains werein a poor condition and an
adequate supply of water could not be
obtained.
A moderate wind was blowing from
the north, which drove the flames di-s
Erectly toward tic other buildings of
tho block, and in half an hour one
fourth of the whole block WAS solid
mass of flames The flames continued
gaining Roadway and finally several
buildings were dynaihited in the hope
< Ers f,a ctr ff1
was all in vain, as the tearing asunder
of the buildings seemed only to make it
easier for the flames to%eat them up.
83 WILLING HANDS AID. 3.35S y
IN the meantime, practically all of
the inha bitants of the town had gath
cred and hundreds of willing hands
were assisting the merchants In re-
moving their goods from the stores.
The streets We're soon piled up with
thousands of dollars, worth OF $n,e,s-5
chandise. Tho flames continued to
gain Roadway, even burning a great.
many of the. goods which had heeny
piled in the streets near the buildings
and could not be got out of the way.
The Boise fire departments which had
carly bcenSnotiiied, responded at ONCE
"a train supplied by the Oregon Short
Line made the run from Boise to Nam
pa I'M q nlinutes. On their arrival,
however, the whole block of buildings
was practically solid mass Of flames.
Water for the fire engine was obtained
from the O.S. l.. water tank and three.
or four, streams We're soon playing upon
the Hickey building at one corner of
the block. 1t being found necessary
to work on this building to keep the
flames from spreading to the Dewey.
l5hotel. Falk building and the building
Ia y, fSI, tt,la tlf 10 In
located. These three buildings occupy
the opposite corners of the blocks i'm.
mediately adjacent to the one burning.
FIRE IS CHECKED.
The Nainpa fire department and the
Boise fire department worked heroically,
together with hundreds of volunteers,
totcheck the fire at this point and sue
ceeded In doing so. 8 At one time 1t
looked as though the buildings on the
opposite sides ofgsthe street. including
The magnificent Dewey Palace hotel,
We're doomed to the flames, but the
| wind shifted a little and aided the fire
| departments in their heroic work, and
they. succeeded in holding the flames in
check. The heat however, was so in
tense that nearly all of the plate glass
windows in ting buildings on the oppo-
l5site side of the streets from the fire,
i were broken. 3t A5l{
A great many of the leading firms of
Nanlpa lost practically all they had.
| A great deal of the loss will be covered
| hysinsurance, but Just how much it Is
! Impossible to say at present Among
/ the firms who were burned out were:
! The Roberts Dry Goods company; Lee
son Furniture company, Robb clothing
store Y. T. Elver, clothier; Dunnucls
1 Brothers, the Grand hotel, G.. A. Fisher,
| books and stationery; f. r. Brace, real
estate; Walling & Walling, real estate
dealers; several saloons, restaurants
i and smaller firms were entirely burned
out G. r. Hickey and the Bank of
Nampa We're practically burned out.
A SEVERE BLOW.
! The blow is a very severe one, as
\ the town has been making very extern
! siye municipal improvements this
4 spring and summer and now Just as
! they are near the completion. the
! burning of one of the main business
/ blocks Will cast a gloom over the town
1 There Is no doubt, however, that the
/ Contemplating citizens OF the community
/ sFil, at once proceed to rebuild and es-
1 tablish their business on a better basis
/ in the course Of a very short time.
\ A private safe may be rented In the
| fire and brrglar-proof vaults of the
4 Salt Lake Security & Trust Co., 1884
] Main street, $500 per year
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