Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-02-19

|
checks were burned. lie is positive the
vault door was left open and the rec
| ords of the company undoubtedly are a
mass of ashes.
Ebert, in danger of suffocation.
grasped chair and hurled it through a
window and made his escape from the
building in this manner.
| Adjoining Buildings Ablaze.
Within a few minutes after the flames
burst through the windows, the plant
OF bundle Il Spence, 57-67 Second street,
caught fire. The employees climbed down
the fire escapes. Tho blaze was cxtin-
gulshed quickly.
| The fire fighters directed part of
| their energies to the neighboring build
ngs, for it was evident that no human
power could prevent the destruction of
the Johns Manville plant The streets
were blocked with apparatus called out
| by third alarm and streams from three
| ire boats were poured upon the blaze,
| but the work of destruction had pro-
! crossed too rapidly to give the fremen
much opportunity to work
Flames Get New Start.
The Charles f. Netzow Manufactur-
| ing company building, 30 Sycamore
| street. caught fire shortly before -
| o'clock and the firemen devoted their
| The diversion of the fire fighters eff
| forts gave the flames in the main build
| ing fresh start after temporary iull,
| during which it was believed that the
| flood of water was having its effect
Floors Fall; Walls Crumble.
The falling of floors in the building
which was now roaring furnace, could
be heard by the crowds in the vicinity
and sparks and embers were sent high
in the air, threatening buildings in the
vicinity.
At II o'clock the entire roof and the
last vestige CT floors fell with a mighty
crash and the lettering walls, left unsup-
ported began to crumble
Wall Misses Firemen.
First the north wall, which faces the
street crashed inward, then a part of the
west wall fell, narrowly missing twenty
fremen at work.
Searchlight Pierces Basement
The fifth injured fireman was lowered
by q rope soon after his comrades had
been taken care of. All were uncon-
scious and with blood streaming from
their wounds, their faces blackened with
smoke and SCOT, they presented spec
tacle that caused the crowd to turn away
III horror.
In the belief that there were other
firemen lying unconscious on the fourth
floor of the Netzow plant, a search light
was hoisted to the roof to throw its
rays into the dark recesses and if pos
sible reveal the missing.
One of the tiremen, who was carried
to the Emergency hospital, told those
who bore him that he thought there
were fifteen men on the roof at the time
1t caved in.
Flames Poured from Windows
When the fire department arrived upon
the scene the large factory was a seeth-
ing mass of flames, radiating heat in all
directions and making it a difficult task
to approach very close to the building.
Flames poured from every window, leap
ing skyward, curling and caressing the
building like hungry monsters i'll search
of prey.
Thousands of people soon gathered and
stood about in large groups, watching
the burning mass. Policemen were sta.
toned at different points around the
building aud fire limits were established
but the crowd was orderly and the fire
men given plenty of space in which to
work.
Falling Roof Brings Death.
AS the flames leaped upward sending
myriads of sparks into the air and belch-
ing forth huge clouds of white and black
smoke. the roof of the building was seen
to waver. Several hremen on the roof
were seen to run in different directions
and shudder of horror crept over the
crowds as they saw the calamity about
to befall the brave lads.
The roof finally caved in, carrying
down with it into the raging furnace
several of those unfortunate enough to
be so located that they could not escape.
The east wall of the building was then
seen to tOtter and cry Of warning
went up from the thousands of specta-
tors The wall slowly curved inward
and began it's fall posing in midair rs
falling, sending up columns of smoke
and cinders. and burying beneath it tons
and tons of burning timbers.
Supt. Curtin of the fire insurance pa
troll, withdrew all his men from the
piano plant five minutes before the
crash and thus prevented a further loss
of life.
Flames Devour Water.
The many streams of water played
upon the building seemed tiny and al
most ridiculous in comparison with the
flames that fairly devoured the water
only to cough it forth again in great,
white clouds of steam.
Following the caving i'll of the front
wall, the side wall on the north began
to crumble, the top of the wall carry
ing in it's path, death and destruction
for the men who worked fighting the fire
below, as it hit the earth with a sound
like the firing of distant cannon.
1t would have been an impossible task
for any chief to supervise and manage
such confa grafton, imminent it
seemed that not only the factory would
burn. but that many of the adjoining
buildings were doomed to destruction.
In the beginning it looked as though it
would be impossible to conquer the fire
before it had reaped a rich harvest from
the surrounding property. Wild eyed
firemen in rubber coats and hatless with
disheveled hair climbed to the roofs of
many of the surrounding buildings, tug
ging with them the heavy lines of hose.
Firemen Work in Great Danger
Good positions for playing water on
the burning mass were afforded here.
but this work was fraught with great
danger. The factory lowered above the
adjacent buildings and to fight the fire
from such a position invited death at
any moment. The south wall of the
building was subjected to deluge of
water from a small army of hremen
who had in some manner crawled and
~ TOO, Pm n =