The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-03-18
FIRE IN GARAGE.
Flames in Auto Machine Shop at
92S Kansas Avenue.
Two Thousand Dollar Loss to
Building and Stock.
FIREMEN'S FINE WORK,
Prompt Action of Department
Saved Structure From Ruin.
Ten Automobiles Stored Are
Damaged Only Slightly.

Fire at o'clock this morning in the
auto machine shop and building at 92S
Kansas avenue did $1,000 damage to
five automobiles, $500 damage to Office
furniture and fixtures, $500 to the
Petrik & Son upho1stering works and
800 damage to the building Total,
I$2,1OO.
1t was only through the promptness
and efficiency of the fire companies
from down town stations that the en-
tire building and stock was not ruin
ed. When the fire was discovered by
a policeman it was raging up through
the stairway into the excelsior, hay
and combustible materials in the sec
ond story and the ceiling and walls
of the first floor were all af1ame.
The building is a two-story affair.
On the first floor the auto machine
shop occupies the entire room. Oil and
gasoline tanks and machinery for re-
pair work are on this floor In the
second floor is the manufacturing de-
partment of the Petrik & Son up
holstering works and was packed to
the ceiling with old furniture and dry
materials used for upholstering.
1.-THE fire undoubtedly started under
the stairway, where old greasy overallS
or some other greasy combustible ma
teria1 were thrown aside" said Assist
ant Fire Chief Babcock. who was first
on the scene and last away. when
we arrived fire and smoke was on
both floors and knowing what was in
the second floor we had little hopes OF
saving anything.
When the bed of the fire under the
front stairway was located the firemen
drowned it in short time and follow
ing out the flames which had eaten
their way along the ceilings, up the
stairway and along the walls, they ex-
tinguished it completely.
The ten autom obileS stored in the
building at the time escaped luckily
with only about $1,000 damage The
fire did not gain sufficient Roadway to
reach the bodies of the cars and the
floors which accounted for the small
damage done compared with the
amount in danger
A Great Smith car owned by the
Wear & Mulvane AutOm obile company
was damaged considerably. It stood
in the front of the building near the
source Of the fire. The top was ruined
completely. The glass front was
was scorched until very little paint re-
manned and many of the accessories
were damaged.
The McCord-Kistler wholesale gro
Gerry firms big delivery truck also re-
ceived the brunt of the fire 1t was
scorched in bad shape from top to
bottom. This machine is an atwood
body above the chassis and there was
no burning of upholstery or accessories
of this kind.
The little Buick car was one of the
small white roadsters commonly used
in the city. 1t was lear the back of
the room and suffered scorched paint,
burned upholstery, and other damages.
A White S.eamer-a big seven pas
senger car-waS also burned badly. The
paint ard varaish on this machine was
burned 10 the wood and the color of
the car cannot be determined. The loss
Will be heavy on this car.
The strange thing about the fire Is
the fact that none of the tires on the
cars were melted or burned. Not tire
suffered any damage. It is thought that
the big tenders protected them-the fire
being all above the machines.
In the Petrik factory above the gar
age considerable damage was done to
stored materials. The fire was burning
hercely in this room when extirguished
by the firemen. The room is filled with
every kind of inliammable Z ateria1 and
with a few more minutes Of contribd-
ton to the flames IT would have been
far beyond control
Mr. Petrik and the managers of the
garage state that they will receive
about half an insurance. The owners
Of the cars all carried insurance on
their machines.