Norwich bulletin., 1914-12-10
$7, ,OOO,OOO Fire
 at Edison Plan
ENTIRE BLOCK OF CONCRETE
 BUILDINGS BURNED.
AT WEST ORANGE, N. J.
Four Firsmsn iniured-Estimatsd That 5000 Men and Women Win Be Thrown Out of EmpIoymsnt-Edison. at s7. to Start All Over Again Carried Only. s2,ooo.ooo Insurance.

West Orange. N. J., Dec 9.-Fire des- troyed virtually the entire main plant of the Edison company here tonight, causing damage estimated at nearly $7,000. 900 with insurance that 1t Is ex- pected will reduce the loss to approx imately $5,000,0 900.
 An entire square block of modern reinforced concrete buildings which were supposed to be hreproof was burned out The only building saved in the block was the laboratory build ing, containing valuable scientific ma chinery under the immediate super intendencv of the inventor, Thomas A. Edison. Especial efforts made to save this structure were successful.
 7,eOo Employed at Plant.
 It is estimated that about 5000 men and women will be temporarily thrown out of work because of the fire. In all about 1000 persons were employed at the plant, but as the storage battery building across the street from the main plant with other buildings near by. it will be possible to keep some thing more than half the force em- ployed.
 Four Firemen Injured.
 Four fremen were injured in fighting the flames and were taken to a hos pital. but are not thought to be se- riousIy hurt,
 To Start All Over Again.
 "Althoush I am more than CT years old. I'll start all over again tomor- row" said MT Edison. T am pretty well burned out tonight, but tomorrow there will be a mobilization here and the debris will be cleared away if it is cooled sufficiently. and I will go right to work to reconstruct the plant.
 The inventor expressed himself thus as he stood watching the flames lick 1.vrflds7or If 17id moth electrical plant, started. it is thought, by an explosion in the in Spection building, one of the smaller frame structures. This building was quickly mass of flames and the spread of the blaze to other structures nearby was rapid,
 Bremen Constantly in Danger.
 The quantities of chemicals in some of the larger buildings made the work of fighting the fire extremely difficult as the firemen were constantly in dan- ger of injury. Explosions of chemicals occurred frequently during the pro- gross of the fire. Employes who were at work in the various departments about the plant all escaped safely, the fire driIl bell being sounded and men and women marching out in virtually perfect order.
 Eleven Buildings Burned.
 In all eleven 5u1O5ngS Tn the mann plant went down with the fire. The buildings destroyed included those oc- cupied by the New Diamond Disc company. the one occupied by the Xii netophone company and the building which housed the Bates Numbering machines. together with the Primary Edison Battery building. the talking machine building and the administra- ton building.
 Lack of Water Pressure.
 The fire departments from Orange East and South Orange. Bloomfield Montclair-and some companies from Newark responded to a call for help but the firemen from all were badly handicapped by lack of sufficient pres sure Additional water later was se- cured by connecting with the East Orange mains. but by this time the whole block was in flames and doomed to destruction. The electric light wires of the town went out of commission when the power house at the Edison plant was destroyed, plunging the place into darkness. From the blazing cleo trical plant itself. however, there shot up towering flames which illunined the countryside for miles around Thousands of persons from the Oranges and nearby hurried to the scene and the police had their hands full controlling the crowd
 Edison Anxious About Laboratory.
 MT. Edison was not at the plant when the fire broke out, but he was quickly notified and soon appeared and assumed personal charge of di- recting the forces combating the flames which were sweeping away the buildings that represented the work of years of his brain in their design equipment and the products they sent out. He was especially anxious re- garding the laboratory building and when he found that 1t probably weuld be impossible to save the greater part of the rest of the plant, he had the ef- forts of the fire fighters centeTed upon the laboratory structure. Tn the mean time such of the valuable scientific ap- paratus. drawings. models and other treasured possessions of the inventor in this building as could be readily secured were carried to a place of safety.
 After the fire 1t was Mfr. Edison who made the estimate of the loss. The burned buildings. the inventor com mented, were supposed to be among the finest examples of modern fire proof construction and pictures of them as such had been exhibited all over the country.