The Washington times., 1910-07-14
SIX MEN KILLED
IN PORTLAND FIRE
Many Are Overcome and
Vast Property Loss At
tends Oregon Blaze.

PORTLAND, ore, July 1A-Six men
were killed, a score injured, $50 horses
were roasted alive. and property worth
$685. was destroyed in the handsomest
portion OF Portland, the Rose City"
early today by the worst FIRE that has
visited the extreme Northwest in years.
Seven square blocks were swept by
the flames
According to the police, an explosion
in a garage caused the fire. The garage
district was the heart Of the confagra-
ton, and the explosion Of fuel spread
the flames rapidly
The dead
JOHN MORGAN. hostIer-
f r PRICE. foreman United Car
rage Company
FRED BOOT, hostler
Three unidentified men.
The latter thRee were admitted 10 the
barns Of the Lewis and Clarke Expo
sition buildings by Morgan and Price
for a nights lodging
The horses destroyed were stabbed in
the exposition grounds
The principal building destroyed was
the Portland exhibition building Fiji
teen apartment buildings in The vicinity
went UP, and the fashionable Multi
uoInah Athletic Club was also de-
str0yed.
Flee For Their Lives.
The occupants OF the apartments were
compelled TO fee for their lives. and
many. attempting 10 secure more than
, the night clothes tley wore, narrowly
escaped
Within a few mi-utes after the FIRE
was first seen, shortly before a. m,
a general alarm had been turned in.
and every available piece Of freight
| ing apparatus in the city was cIatter-
ing toward the exposition building. on
Eighteenth street The clanE q bells
and foot Of sirens aroused the city.
I The high-shOotIug flames attracted an
1 enormous crowd
A strong wind carried sharks far and
high and shot the flames across great
gaps. SPREADING the FIRE rapidly
! II was :fte- o'clock before the FIRE
chiefs gave out word THAI the blaze
was under control Even then. however.
20 the layman the Gre seemed 20 be
gaining ground
More than a dozen buildings had been
swept away when the turning point was
announced by the authorities
Ambulances Ready.
All night long men. women and chill
drel- stood crowded about the police
lines. gazing at the destruction Of build
ing after building With the police
struggling 10 ken clear the rieat OF
vav. the ambgIsnces from every hos
pital in the city were lined in the vicin-
ity- The surGeczls were kept busy re-
storing overcom4 dremen and dressing
the burns OF refugees and others
--ar-
building was mass OF flames almost
before the first engine arrived Actetr
IL had bIazed fercely for an h0ur-a
torch rat could be seen over the Cou1-
Try for miles a5out-it collapsed with a
roar and q eeyser Of cinders and hot
ashes shot up
When the collapse came a band Of a
dozen fremen were all but trapped IN
der the walls Chief CaupbcII had given
Up hope OF saving the old building fEom
the first. directing all forces toward
concentrating the IRE On Washington
Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth.
Chapman, Ella. Alder and Morris
streets the fremen played steady
streams for hours after the police had
forced these occupants 10 seek safer
quarters
Many Narrow Escapes.
This precaution was not taken in
time, however. to prevent many mar
row escapes The spread Of the fire
was so rapid that the police were
taken unawares- The lIuItnomah
Athletic Club, one Of the best equip
ped buildings in the country, with
field bIeachers and erandstand val
ued at $4,000. was totally destroyed.
The members We're whipped into an
iupromptu force. however and saved
the furniture and trophies. worth
thousands OF dollars
Forty Jackies from the gunboat
Yorktown also did yeoman service
under Ensign George J0erms and
Ensign J. NJ Meredith The tars
used the scaling ladders like veteran
fremen when the old Bishop Scott
Academy caught fire.