The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-10-25
Water Power Garage Building
Burns to Ground Friday
E~vening-Other Build
ings Damaged.
IS AUTOMOBILES BURN
Peter Van Ausdall, Garage
Owner, Seriously Injured
When Gas in Tank
Exploded.

The IRE Friday evening In the
Water Power Garage building that In
Cured a total loss of over $4,000,
started from an explosion Of gasoline
In an automobile, according to Peter
Van Ausdall. wne of the garage, who
vas working on the a when the &C
cfdent happened. Van Ausdal said
yesterday that the engine back-ired,
causing an explosion OF the gasoline
in the carburetor. The explosion there
caused the gasoline in the main tank
to explode. This last explosion threw
burning gasoline all owe that end Of
the building, a fact which ac-
counts for the big start the fire had be
fore an alarm could be turned In
Van Ausdall is today confined In
bed at his home, GA Concert street.
He is paralyzed on one side. and his
back and feet are badly burned. He
said yesterday that when the main
tank In the automobile exploded some
thing struck him. hurting him back
ward fifteen feet. He was able to get
out Of the building unassisted but Don
after was taken home. There were
-four other men in the building at the
time OF the explosion, all OF whom
were able to get ont safely.
One OF the iercest fires which the
Keokuk fire department ever had to
deal with. broke out at 4.5S O'Clock
Friday night when an explosion Of
gasoline started a blaze in the garage
building on Johnson street between
Second and Third
For a time the entire half block was
threatened. and the flames leaping and
rearing across johnson street licked
hungrily at the big Huiskamp Brothers
Shoe factory. They were foiled Ia this
assault, however, and the fire was
confined TO the garage building. prac
tically. by some excellent fire fight
ing on the part of the local depart
ment.
. The explosion which occurred just be-
fore five o'clock could be heard
throughout the business district. It was
accompanied by the shattering OF
glass. and FIRE was seen to leap out in
to the middle OF Johnson street. An
alarm war turned from the operators
dCSh Va lie niSsisSippi hlsSI IOWci
Company's Office and at 5 O'Clock or
two minutes later the first piece OF ap.
paratus was on the scene.
The fire was burning like a huge
draft furnace, and the heat was one
which would rival the inferno. The
glass in the factory building across
the street was cracked under the heat.
The oil soaked floors of the garage,
which was a three story building, re.
sponded readily to the onslaught of
the blaze. 1t was but an instant before
the whole building was a roaring
furnace.
Fire HisIy Dramatic.
The fire began In a highly dramatic
and spectacular way. A man who
happened to be standing in a window
on the next corner looking at the
front OF the garage was thunderstruck
by the violence and quickness with
which things occurred.
There was a great crash heard
down on the levee and nearly all over
the business part Of town. This crash
had for its dominant sound the high
pitched keen noise OF breaking glass,
and it sounded like all the glass in the
world falling on a paved prairie. But
there was an underlying low toned
solid sort of boom with the crash OF
the glass that indicated a heavy ex.
plosion.
Instantly, as the fash OF a gun Is