The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-05-12
BIC AND COSTLY BLAZE
Office. Stock Room and Machine
Shop of the Oeala Iron Works
Burned Monday Evening

i About half-past O'Clock Monday
Ievening. passer-by noticed a blaze
lin the eastern end Of the machine
shop OF the Ocala Iron Works. He
irashed to give the alarm. and the
fire department responded promptly.
but the fire, drawn thru the long
building like it was chimney, swept
4 rearing to the westward. and before
i the firemen could reach the scene the
s machine shop was a roaring, blazing
i Inferno, while the fame was burst
: ing through the thin partitions into
I the stockrooms and Office. When the
i fire chief arrived. he needed only
i glance to tell him that the main
) building was doomed and the only
4 house and foundry. which was no
little job itself.
i The building, as all know, was
}, long structure of sheetiron, filled
4 with machinery, which. as usual was
) lliberalIy anointed with oil, and the
metal sides kept the blaze in, which
) while making the fire all the fiercer
inside helped no little to save the
nearby buildings.
In a few minutes after the fire
. started, all the long building was
. seething mass of fire inside, the iron
sheets of the sides and roof turning
. first red and then white with the
. heat Soon the fire went clear thru
and burst in a banner of flame out
at the west end.
II Up against this good-sized little
i. hell went the fire chief and his men,
{ aided by the usual bunch of .Ocala
= volunteers At the most dangerous
land hottest point, the reporter saw
} Louis Lang holding up door to
!. shield a bunch who were playing a
:: hose on the fire. There were WEIGH
:. Dewey, ]. NJ. Rawls, Taylor Stroman,
Rea Ferguson, Jim Duffy, Lester
!; iey, Lawton Bailey, Hugo Mcintosh,
!. Zach Peacock, Jack Sheehan, Cecil
!. Ditto, West Keith Woods and many
others who swan in and out thru the
!. smoke and heat too fast to be iden-
: titled
!: The chief and his regular force
{ were on the job all right, and by
!. close watching and timely streams
: of water on the nearby buildings,
!; kept them also from bursting into
: flame.
: At the first alarm, Superintendent
; Caldwell of the electric light plant,
;. mindful of the danger from live
!: wires, cut off the current, and for a
few minutes the city, except for the
7 conf1agration, was in darkness. AS
!: soon, however, as the circuit could
: be cut out, the lights were turned
8 on again. 1t was necessary to be
I prompt, for it wasn't many minutes
after the alarm before some parts of
s the premises were tangle of wires.
Tt looked like the entire city went
: to the fire; the people thronged the
8 streets on one side and the railroad
: track on the other 1t was one of
s be of much help. Little stuff could
!. be moved, and when the hose noZZles
+ had been manned, there was little to
z do but stand and look.
8 Thru the crowd along the railroad
Z came the evening train from Jack
: sonville, and the train men had to
S. use much care, lest some preoc-
8 lcupied person be run over while he
7 was looking at the fire. But with
z the conductor in front, aided by To-
s cal men, Agents Williams and
! Thompson. the train almost tiptoed
!. thru.
& One by one, the metal sheets
g crumpled up and sank inward, the
Z scantlings, uprights and rafters
burned thru and gave way, and the
blazing ruin crumbled into itself
Sparks went up in clouds and came
10 down in showers, and only lack o.
u wind rendered them of comparative
VI ly little danger.
Half an hour after the alarm, ,th<
firemen had the blaze under control
and the crowd slowly dispersed.
Fire Chief Chambers and his men
Messrs. Anthony, Mcleod, Stafford
and Allemand, worked skillfully AND
tt braXely. OF the paid men, Short.
Mcleod deserves special notice. HI
had on his Sunday clothes when thu
4 alarm sounded, and ten minute:
later they were not good for any
| thing but the ragbag.
It is not known what caused th<
. fire. Several of the men were a