Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-01-21
ERIE R. R. POWER
HOUSE SWEPT BY
BIG $4,000 FIRE
Spectacular Blaze on Water
Front Destroys Cars and
Buildings.
Especial to the Newark star.l

JERSEY CITY, Jan. 21.-Although a
three-alarm fire brought the greater
part of the fire department to the foot
of Pavonia avenue at $3.50 o'clock this
morning to fight a fire which broke
out in the Erie railroad gas and power
house between docks 5 and 6 n did
damage to the extent of sec, 900, only
engine was able to get a Stream
on the fire. Engine Company No. j.,
with its horses putting and snorting
and dragging behind them the mas
sive machine, plowed right through the
main passenger station. and early
morning patrons in the station had to
rub their eyes to make sure they were
not having a nightmare.
AS near as can be learned. the fire
was due to the carelessness of an oilei,
and when the first engines got there
h waterfront was aglow and 1t
looked like q big fire. Four Erie fire.
tugs and the New Yorker and Van
Wyck, New York fireboats. came quick
ly and did good work. preventing a
spread of the flames to the docks OH
the north. At one time it looked as II
the fire would get away from the fire.
fighters, as the flames leaped Into the
heavens
When the Jersey City department got
to the fire. Chief Conway looked about
in vain for some way to get his APP
paratus to the railroad yards. Then
he found several hydrants at the foot
of Pavonia avenue out of order. All
hat the firemen could do then-all but
the members of Engine Company No.
S-was to watch the fire blaze away
and hope that Engine Company No. s.,
with the assistance of the fireboats,
could conquer the flames. The crew of
No. 3 engine was comp osed of Lieuten-
ant Bergen, Captain Sweeney. Eugene
Rose, Miles Burke, Neil O'Brien, o
McDermott, John Kelly and John King
man.
= II. II. Men Fight Fire.
Lying about fifteen feet from the
head of pier No. 6 was a big two-story
warehouse and Office building in which
were the quarters of Terminal Super
intendent j. C. Barrett, Superintendent
of Marine Equipment Grimes, the
CHEF ~yardmasteTs and employment
bureau. The building VS. also used
for the storage of valuable freight
AS soon as the flames reached
this building a force Of railroad men
were ordered into the place to save
as many of the records as possible.
force of men were kept busy
carrying them away to a safe place.
The flames spread rapidly. however.
and within a short time drove the res-
cuers out of the place.
With this building in flames the fire
had reached it's greatest danger point,
70, within a short distance to the east
lay the covered freight wharf on which
was stored a large number of cars
loaded with high-class freight. Efforts
of the .fire-fighters were specially di-
rected now toward holding the flames
in check and preventing them jumping
the f~fteen-foot space n reaching the
Office building IN the wharf.
At the head of the wharf was a
building in WHICH were stored more
freight records of the company n
whe the men were driven out of the
two-story structure they were SEN to
TIL wharf to care for the records stored
there.
In addition to the through freight
cars on pier No. 6, pier No. 81 was
crowded with a number of cars con-
local shipments. The transfer
these cars on TO lighters cOulQ not
effected, however. for the lighters
not run alongside of those wharves,
nor could the locomotives be run
through the yards to draw them be-
yond the danger zone.
FLAMES Nenr Gas Tank.
Inside o. the yards a still further
menace existed. A small trestle runs
to a height. of about ten feet to the
9 of the big gas stora . tank and
to this trestle are run cars to be
stored with the infiammable stuff. |
There happened to be "a car on the
at the time the flames swept
through the yards. Although efforts
were made to run this car down, the
men could not bulge 1t, for
the brakes were locked, and the flames |
soon enveloped the car. The iremen
then had to turn their hose on the
trestle to try to prevent hat from
taking fire, too.
Locomotives hauled as many cars as
possible out of the freight yards, but
one car stored with ice could not be
reached in time to draw 1t, and the
trainmen promptly abandoned all ef-
fort to get it from the fire zone. To
the southwark all the freight cars were
hauled west beyond the proximity OF
the fire, but 1t was not thought neces-
sary to run the passenger cars out of
the terminal sheds.
Tho frc was conolIered after tu,o |