Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-23
BIC FIRE In LINCOLN YARDS
Fierce Gale Swseps Flames Through
Burlington Structures.
LOSS ARoUT HUNDRED THOUSAND
Old HoundhnuHc, coal Chufes, HoE
Cars and CONSERVATION Material
Deatrareh-Warer Pressure
Fails Completely.
.Oss ABOUT HUNDRED THOUSAND


'from n Staff Correspondent
LINCOLN, Neb. April Z-Jspeciui Teie-
Eraml-Fire which Is stiE burning, though
practically under control by Il O'Clock last
night. DESTROYED the old Burlington round
house. the ice house thirty cars. the coal
rhutes and thousands OF dollars worth Of
lumber and railroad material. The fire
vas discovered in the roof Of the round
house about 9 o'clock and Is supposed TO
have originated from a spark from the en-
siue attached to train 40. Al.
The loss estimated by superintendent
Bignen and Division storekeeper water
man. xiil be around 100000 This estimate
may be materially changed upon investi-
CATION after the fire is finally s-xtinguished
and the records investigated. The Insurance
is about % per cent Of the loss.
The fire swept from north 90 south by a
wind OF forty miles velocity and de-
struved everything in it's path for a dis
tancs OF at least five blocks. threatening
az times TO destroy the Union Pacific depot
and he Burlington storehouse. as we'll as
me burlington passenger station and other
buildings. The water pressure was so low
that IL was not possible TO prevent the de-
strictfon OF any building that was touched
By flame. and 10 was only the heroic work
Of the dremen that saved a great portion
Of the material vardg.
When grst discovered. Mr Waterman
said the fire had Just started in the roof
Of the north part Of the roundhuuse and
had there been sufficient water pressure.
IL could have been e-xtinguisned. As Il was.
the strong wind carried The blaze go rapidly
that q seemed an instant only until the
-roundhouse was a mass of fire. Tho
flames leaped then 10 the little oil house.
on to the coal chute the ice house. burn
ing thousands Of dollars worth OF lumber
and material as il sped on its way
Laborers in Danger.
superintendent Bigneu ordered out en-
Enes and as the flames burned around
them. dozens Of freight cars we're hustled
beyond reach Of the fire. Italian laburers
were hustled out Of their bunk cars. carry
ing their personal belongings with them.
and the cars were soon a mass Of bent
irons and charred umbers.
When about One-half Of the long coal
chute was burned away the Eremen were
Intellectually trying to head off the flames.
bun the water pressure was not sufficient
to raise the stream five feet Upon lsav-
ing the nozzle Of the hose. the stream was
scattered by the wind until ii became mere
spray Mr. Bignell arrived al this critical
moment. walked up the trestie work in the
face Of The fire and called the firemen to
follow. With the fire blowing directly
in their faces. the men succeeded in
stopping headwav and saved part Of the
trestle work.
Burlington engines were ordered into
service and with huse attached these ala
good service as they went from one part
OF the yards to another putting out in
o.plent fires and preventing spread 20
other piles OF lumber. Only one stream
Of city watsr was used. other water being
tqksn from the. Burlington tanks, ana
nvdrantE. To ada to the worry Of the
nremen several times hose caught fire and
burned.
Building tornRe Houssa
There was nothing in the ice house sx-
Cspt some cement. while the round house
which has tYventy-four stalls. contained
no engines. II had been planned to use
IN structure FOR a storage house and a
lot of records already were stored there
These were destroyed. The round house
also contained some gasoline. hut very
little. The oil house close TO the round
house was a small one. The round house
had not been used for it's original purpose
for at least five months. when the new
structure was completed.
The fire attracted thousands OF people.
who remained on watch FOR hours. regard
less Of the fact that the strong wine blew
cinders and dirt and burning enbers
through the air at terrific pace.
Burning emhers were scattered over the
southwest part OF town for a distance of
more than a half mile. but few fell in the
res dence portion Of the city.