Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-02-16
FIRE IN ADAMS BLOCK
Dense Smoke Made Work of
Fighting 1t Difficult.
Millinery Ruined and Easement STOCK
of Vermont Hardware Company
Considerably Damaged by
Water.

The fire department acquitted itself most
credtably early Tuesday afternoon when
it extinruished fire in The Adams blocl;
on Bank street. occupied by the Vermont
Hardware company, the Burlington Busi-
ness College and the millinery store OF
Mrs. Dodge Waterman. An alarm was
not rune in until an explosion in the base
ment had blown out front window 50
that the flames were seen from the street
and had communicated with the partitions
on the first floor. The loss. which Is
mostly caused by smoke and water, Is
well covered by insurance.
The new automobile truck demonstrated
its efficiency by being the first on the
scene and its hosc was laid several seconds
before that of the other trucks. When
the hrcmon arrived, which was less than
q minute after the alarm had been sent
I'm, the cellar was so filled with smoke
and flames that no one could enter IT,
shortly, however, the chemical and the
bose from the new truck were pouring
in water from the front window and the
hremcn could enter They found that a
gas range had caused the fire and that
gas was pouring from a melted pipe. II
was evident that n jet had been left light
ed and either n pipe had burst or melted
by tho flame. The statement was made
that Mr.. Waterman had been cooking
Il piece of meat on the range.
The gas was then shut off, which ma dc
it possible for the iiremen to remain
there. Meanwhile i've otner streams had
been put ON and were doing good work in
the partitions 1t was difficult 10 find the
exact location Of the flames and a part OF
the sheathing in the walls had to be tori
out, The water from above prevented the
spread Of the fire to the upper stories and
in a little over an hour the fire was pro-
nounccd out.
The damage could not be accurately es-
tmated Tuesday, but the Vermont Hard
ware company used a part of the cellar for
the storage of harness, etc, and tbs
damage to them by smoke and water will
be considerable IA it will to a large mum
Der of blankets stored in the roar of the
first floor. on the second floor the dam
age is slight and confined to that done
by smoke, as is that on the third floor
occupied by the business college
There was only small stock in the mil
linery store, but the goods were practical
~ ruined by smoke and water. while the
fixtures, including some expensive rugs
were badly damaged Mr.. and Mrs. Wat
erman were seated in the rear of the store
al the time of the fire and were not aware
of any trouble until the alarm was sound
ed. The loss to the building. which is
owned by Mrs, Harriet b. Adams. will be
considerable. The ceiling and the walls
of the basement are badly charred anc
considerable damage was done to the par
titions on the first floor and large show
window was broken. Both the millinery
store and the business college were pre-
pairing TO move soon into other quarters
The insurance was placed in the agen-
cies of T. s. Peck, Powell g. Marks, II. II
Hickok and with the Burlington Mutual
Fire Insurance company. The adjusters
are expected the latter part of the week
to settle the loss. The fire department Is
now so organized that it can lay 1000 feet
or 10 streams. in addition TO the chemical
rose, anywhere in the business section
and if necessary, 5000 more feet can be
brought into use.