Las Vegas optic. (East Las Vegas, N.M.) 1908-1921, 1911-08-01
ATTENDANTS PROVED HEROES
AT RISK OF THEIR LIVES THEY
PLOTTED CHARGES TO
SAFETY
INSANE men FOUGHT RESCUE
DESPERATE RESISTANCE PUT UP
BY VICTIMS, WHO FLED BACK
INTO FLAMES

Hamilton, Ont, Aug. Eight are
dead and many were injured in fire
which partly destroyed one of the
main buildings of the insane asylum
on the side of the mountain south
west of this city early today. There
were soc patients in the building
when the fire was discovered and it
was only a well trained fire-fighting
corps and a splendid coolness and
bravery among the nurses and at
tendants under DR.. English that avoid
ed more frightful loss of life.
There are four buildings in the
group within the asylum grounds.
The main building where the fire oc-
Cured was a four-story brick struc-
ture with basement, 200 feet in
length and about seventy feet wide,
with wings at either end. The $50
women patients occupied quarters in |
the west wing. The remainder of |
the building was taken up with mems
most desperate cases in the asylum
The women were moved without SER
ious difficulty to rooms in the ad-
joining buildings. The situation
among the men was more serious.
The fire broke out on the fourth
floor in what is known as section D.,
where the violent insane are kept.
The most of the men, guarded by at
tendants. moved down three flights
of stairs out of the fire zone in or
derly procession, but about a score,
driven into a frenzy by the sitting
smoke and the excitement of mid
night fire, fought off their rescuers
with desperate fury. Three of them,
after being carried down to the Sec
ond floor, broke away and fled back
into the blazing corridors.
The flames in the meantime had
spread down the hallway and We're
eating their way through the floor to
the third story. The asylum fire
fighters brigade although fighting
the city brigade, which had been
maniacs and were losing control when
the city grigade, which had been
summoned, arrived. 1t was nearly 2
o'clock before the first Of their ap-
paratus was brought into play. The
firemen ran scaling ladders to the
third and fourth floor windows,
where it was believed some of the
unfortunates had fled. Crawling into
the stifling smoke, the firemen
groped their way about until they
found a maniac. He was still able to
offer resistance and it was necessary
to knock him senseless when he was
dropped into the life net below.
Eight of the insane and one attend
ant who had lost consciousness in
the work of rescue were saved.
The blazing roof of the asylum,
perched on the mountain side, at
tracted the attention of the entire
city. Hundreds flocked up the Mill
It was weird sight that presented
itself. The screams of 800 inmates
of the four buildings drowned every
other sound. The firemen, fighting
both flames and the maniacs, were II
constant peril and frequently were
seen perched on window sills through
which the smoke was pouring tryins
to drag forth struggling man.
Tom Fitzgerald of an electric fir'
truck is given credit for the rescue o
five men, His sixth broke from hi
grasp at window and fled back in
OF the flames, where he perished.
The fire is believed to have beel
caused by the short circuit of al
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