Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-02-13
Wauseon Visited by the Fire Fiend
Twice in One Nigbt-Heavy Prop
erty Loss-Seyen Head of Horses
Burned-Splendid Work of Fire
Department.


of last week fire alarm was sound
ed and the Fire Department an
swered call to the residence of Mr..
and Mrs. George lines on East Elm
street. Mrs. lines, who is, i'll, was
alone in the house at the time the
fire broke out and was unable to
leave her bed; neighbors saw the fire
and hastened to rescue Mrs. lines,
taking her into one of the homes near
by. Mr.. lines had just started for
home when the alarm was sounded
and turned back at the corner of
Elm and Fulton streets to find out
where the fire was; he was met by
someone who informed him that his
own house was burning. The fire
gained such rapid headway that by
the time the firemen arrived on the
scene it was impossible to save the
house; few articles of household
furniture and some bedding were
saved from the flames but only a
front wall of the house was left
standing, the house was practically
total loss; it required strenuous
work on the part of the fremen to
subdue the flames and prevent the
spread of the fire to adjacent prop
erty. The nights work was not fin
ished for the firemen when, somewhere
about midnight the boys returned to
their homes and beds. About 3
o'clock Friday morning someone in
the Clinton Hotel discovered fire is
suing from the roof at the north end
of the livery barn of Dickson and
Cammarn; Frank Reichart, proprie-
tor Of the hotel, Immediately gave
the alarm. but before the last stroke
of the bell had sounded the upper
part of the building was a mass of
flames The fremen found the barn
locked and on their breaking in the
doors found the interior so filled with
smoke and fire that it was impossible
to get anything out of the building
except an old bus that stood near the
front, or south entrance.
There were seven horses in the
stalls which were located at the north
end of the building; these all per-
ished in the flames as it was utterly
impossible to get at them to release
them. All vehicles, harness, hay,
feed. robes, blankets, in fact, the en-
tire stock and equipment of Dickason
and Cammarn was completely de-
stroyed in the flames and we under
stand, was only partially covered by
insurance. The building was close to
other frame buildings on the east,
north and west sides and the firemen
waged a hard battle with the fire fiend
to save these buildings. To add to the
odds against the firemen the water
pressure was low and the wind was
from the southeast; the cement block
building of the Rohr's marble works
on the west of the barn seemed to
act as fire wall affording a par
tial protection to the buildings on
the west side of it, but the fire
brands were carried up from the
burning building by the intense heat
and then drifted by the wind to
roofs of the houses on the entire
block on Depot street, west OF the
barn. Residents were on guard and
extinguished fires that were started
by these brands, thus saving their
homes. The east side and roof of
the Armory building, occupied by
Heist and Hill, caught fire but by
hard fighting the firemen succeeded
in saving this building and its con-
tents of agricultural implements.
The east wall Of the Rohrs' building
was cracked by the intense heat and
the roof badly damaged by the fire.
Aside from the damage to these two
buildings and the slight damage to
some small outbuildings belonging to
the Clinton Hotel which were close
up to the livery barn on the east
side the fire was confined to this one
building. The victory belonged to the
fire department and when the scene
Of the fire is viewed and the condi-
tions considered, it seems indeed re-
markable that the firemen could sue
ceed in preventing the spread of the
flames.
The actual causes of the fires both
at the lines home and the livery barn
are not definitely known; at the lines
house it is supposed that the fire was
caused either by a defective f1ue OF
an over heated stove; the theory OF
crossed eectric wires has been sug-
gested as to the origin of the fire at
the livery barn.
A third fire on this same Thursday
is reported as having occurred two
miles south of Oak Shade. The barr
of John Snow burned at about mid.
night. the origin of this fire is un-
known. Mrs. Snow was awakened a.
about IL o'clock, thinking that she
heard noise in the barn; she got VI
and went to the barn but found every
thing all right; at 12 o'clock the barr
was ablaze. The loss total, insured
through Grisier Agency in the Ohi'
Farmers.