The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1913-01-18
FIRE IN W|NSLOW
BLOCK HARD
TO FIGHT
Large Portion of Damage Caus-
ed BY Water
MUCH OF THE STOCK RUINED
New England Telephone Lnemen
Ably Assisted Local Fire
Department.

Several thousand dollars damage
was caused by a fire which broke out
early this forenoon on the third
floor of the A. II. Winslow block on
West Main street While the fire
itself was confined to the floor next
IN the roof and the actual
destruction from the flames was
small the loss occasioned by the
thorough drenching of the building
will be heavy. Any estimation OF
the damage is impossible. Mr.. WIN
slow carried sufficient insurance to
protect him against loss on the Dulid-
ing itself but had only $1,000 on MS
stock
The building, which is four stories
high, has been built less than TWO
wears and was filled from cellar 10
roof with a large stock OF hardware,
farming tools and metal household
furnishings. much of which Will be
completely ruined by water.
The fire started from a gasolene
soldering torch which one OF MT
Winslow's employees was using In the
rear room on the top hoor. An
alarm vas at once sent through the
building and Mr. Winslow with MS
clerks, by quick work with pals oil
water. at first appeared to nave put
out the fire. Another start was Cd
tanned by the flames, however, and an
alarm was rung in.
The height of the building made
the fire a hard one for the members
of the department to handle. be
fore a line of hose could be strung
the flames were breaking through
window in the southwest corner.
stream soon checked the fire In the
immediate vicinity OF the window Tut
II was evident that the water was
not reaching the center OF the hre
and an extension ladder was brought
into use Considerable difficulty vas
experienced in raising the ladder De
cause of the close proximity OF low
building in the rear of the block, Dut
the feat was finally accomplished ana
the fire was then driven back from
the corner of the block.
The stream at the window, now
ever. only controlled the fire in the
immediate vicinity and in order TO
prevent a further spread of the
flames a line OF hose was taken To
the roof by the way of the alley be
tween the block and the building on
the east. IN this work the depart
ment was ably assisted by Daniel u.
Shaw and his gang OF New England
Telephone company workers. Mr..
Shaw was at one time CHIEF OF the
fire department in Portland, Me.
His men are trained climbers ana
with their assistance an extension
ladder was raised and the hose was
soon carried to the roof,
Fearing that the fire might be
smouldering in the partitions and
break out again a general alarm was
sent in and the Eagle hose company
arrived on the scene shortly after lO
o'clock
One of the amusing features OF the
fire happened at the cornor of South
and Main streets When the line OF
hose was being taken to the roof an
order was given to detach one OF the
lines of hose from the hydrant. Inc
fireman in charge, believing that the
water was cut of. detached the coupl-
ing and started a miniature geyser
that flooded the street.
While the actual damage by fire
was confined to the upper story OF
the building and the roof. the fire
itself originated on the third floor.
The workbench on which the gaso-
lene torch was standing is located in
the southwest corner of the third
floor. Judging from appearances the
fire must have followed the wood
work up through into the room
above. The upper room is in fact a
garrett with a space about six feet
between the floor and the rafters. IL
was used for storage purposes and
there was an accumulation of junk OF
all kinds piled over the floor. Their,
were packing cases from which the
excelsior had not been removed,
large pile OF old rubber tires and 9th
er material. which once burning made
a fire that was difficult to overcome.
There were several partitions in
the garnet, but these were burned
through and the fire made its way
nearly to the front of the building.
At one time, the heat was so intense
that IL looked as though the immense
glass front covering the entire block
above the second floor would col
lapse.
An examination Of the upper story
OF the block after the fire had been
put out showed that there was a
much larger amount Of fire than was
apparent from the outside. That the
department was able. with the diff
culties that had to be overcome In
getting water into the building, to
check the FIRE before greater damage
was done, is remarkable. The larger
portion Of the roof was covered with