The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1915-02-02
|MURPHY-DEVENY
BLOCK DAMAGED
HEAVY By FIRE
Six Fir|emen Overcome By
The Smoke and Carried
From Scene.
RcAANpIsE OF THE LEADER
AND UNITED lsH oESs STORE is
RUINED. h

i no. 70
IS One OF tho most disastrous fires
that has visited Fairmont ,for,y did
great damage to the Murphy.D eyeny
building on Madison street last night
land for a time threatened TO destroy
the entire structure.
& As lit was, the basement was en-;
tirely Quilted blythe flames. The stocks
LOFT the; United Shoe Stores Company
and the Leader, mems furnishing store,
were damaged pa great extent BY
1.-The smoke and water. The fire was OF
Isuch a serious nature that 1t was nee.
essary 10 flood the building and last
might after the blaze was ,extinu.
gulshet there was several feet of wa.
1 ter in the basement. TheSclothing and
slices In the stores were, drenched.
4e!The7 fire broke out last might at $3.50
and 1t was three hours before the blaze
was feXtihglishe1 and the firemen re-
turned to hesitation house. 81
ssThe first call at the Central fire sta:
ton brought a response by the com:
,bination chemical and hose truck, the
second brought out the hook and lad
dor wagon and still the third alarm
caused response by tho East Side
department n II hi, A
Many of the giircmeni we're overcome
by Che ismokcSwhile fighting the flames
I and had TO he given medical attend;
ancoi on the scene Drs. ;Js E. 0ffner
and Carter Fleming. who were near,
were called and aided inSreYiving the
I.tire5laddies.a Those oYercomclWere:
Assistant Chief Ralph Doolittle,
ilFiremcn Fleming Hamilton. William
Ford, Andrew Vandergrift,, French
Travis and Carl Martin. Assistant
Chief iDoolittlc was first carried away,
l.thenFh elreviycd and came back to the
Scene 1t was only a short time until
the smoke again had Its effect on him
and he was carried out for the second
time. He was taken to his home but
tola N lis reported Il asg being in much
better condition. Fireman Travis came
back on duty this morning. but was
suffering from u terrible headache.
Fireman Fleming Hamilton was TAX
EN- TO the Cook II ospital and could not
treturnEto the fire. Fireman Wander.
igrlft was also taken to the hospital
where he spent the might Reports
from the hospital this morning were
THAT both Hamilton and Vandergrilt
are muctimproved. All the boys were
more or less overcome several times
idurlng the fight and had to come to
tile open in order to breathe.
When the firemen first arrived on
the scene smoke was pouring in great
quantities from reimbursement OF the
building under; thesU United Shoe Store.
at first a stream Of water was put on
tho blaze from the Main.strcet plug
and gthist was soon supplemented by
Streams from the plug at tho Depot
and one in the alley at the corner o.
!tho building. The building hose was
also used on the blaze. to great ad.
vantage. This was the first oppor-
'tnnity that tie iremcn have had to
demonstrate the advantage OF their
now fire truck. Itnot only aided them
In getting on the scene several min.
utes9 earlier. but the, apparatus and
eailipmentScarrled was so far superior
Ia that of the old hose cart that the
advantage could be readily seen. The.
new wagon carried 100 fcet OF hose
and This was all connected with plugs
and played u, high. pressure stream
upon, the blaze. y
9'HS 2, startediin Basement.
1.-THE tiremen hoped irst to keep
the blaze in the basement. where It
first originated, but tho flames had
such a start that this was soon seen
20 he impossible 1t soon reached the
first floor and this was where the fire.
mon we're overcome. They had start
Cd to take atstrcam Of hose through
when the smoke became so dense that
they soon dropped to the floor and had
itmot been for their companions they
would have suifocated.
Big Crowd. rs.
Al1arge crowd was on tho scene oil
the fire. and many volunteer firemen
aided tile regular force to a great ex.
tent Their. help was all the more APP
preciatcd .as the regular men were
overcome one by one. Chief OF Police
tarr with his men were present and
did great deal in Keeping the crowd
away from the building, thus enabling
the firemen TO work TO a greater adj
vantage. Al rope was, stretched across
the street in 'front.' of the building and
the crowds were kept beyond these
limits. .5iii ii
When the alarm was first sounded
a great deal OF anxiety was felt as a
number or families reside in the fats
IN stairs. The women and children
however had ample time to come to